The Azkaban Redemption
by SiriusBlack161
Summary: Sirius Black has been imprisoned in Azkaban. While in the wizard prison he has to fight an evil Warden, wand happy Aurors, and of course the darkest creatures on the planet: Dementors. COMPLETE. Please keep on Reading and Reviewing.
1. Halloween, 1981

THE AZKABAN REDEMPTION  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
Halloween, 1981  
  
The house was invisible to all but a select few. This house belonged to the family of James Potter. James Potter was still young, twenty-seven to be exact, and sported a pair of glasses. He was below the average weight for his age group, had hazel colored eyes and untidy, brown hair. He was lying on the couch in his living room, gently stroking the red hair that belonged to his wife, Lily. Lily was a beautiful young woman and was the same age as James. She had bright green eyes that had made many a boy at Hogwarts fall for her. She had pale, soft skin and smelled of the most fragrant of flowers.  
Their baby boy, Harry, was sleeping in the crib next to the couch that James and Lily were occupying. James, who had been staring out into space, looked down at his wife who's head was resting on his chest. He smiled and gave a heavy sigh before saying, "I hate being locked up in this house."  
Lily sighed and turned her head upwards to look into her husband's weary eyes. "I'd have thought that you would've realized by now the positives that go along with this isolation." She blinked and then continued, "It's for the best, if you're right about who the spy is then we should have no problems whatsoever."  
James looked away from his wife, he didn't like the feeling that was churning away at his stomach. Was it fear that he felt? It felt strange, a feeling that he had felt only once. He was now alert and listening intently for some sign of movement outside. The silence was only broken by the occasional creak of wood.  
"What," Lily said, "What is it?"  
James gently picked Lily up from his chest, without answering her, and got up quickly from the couch. He walked over to the window that faced looked out into the front lawn and into the nearby street. He opened the window and was shocked at what he heard. That was the problem, there was nothing to hear. None of the nocturnal creatures were making any sort of sounds. There were no owls hooting, no crickets playing their violin-like legs, and there were no frogs croaking. There was just silence.  
"Lily," James began, not taking his eyes off of the front lawn, "Wake Harry up and--  
But he did not finish, for a cloaked figure in black robes had just appeared out of thin air. It was moving toward his house, the figure looking more and more sinister as it came closer to him. He did not need think twice, he knew who it was. The one wizard that he did not want to ever see again, Voldemort.  
"LILY," James shouted as loud as his vocal cords would allow, "GET HARRY!"  
"Why," she called from the living room, "What's going on?"  
"LILY HE'S HERE, GET HARRY! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF! TAKE HARRY AND GO! JUST GO!  
Lily did not need telling twice. As quickly as she could, she scrambled to where Harry was sleeping and picked him up. He woke up and said cheerfully, "Mummy." They were out of the living room and were about to head up the stairs when Lily turned to James.  
"James," she said, fear in her voice, "What are you going to do?"  
"I AM GOING TO HOLD HIM OFF," he yelled, taking his wand out, "JUST GET HARRY OUT OF THE HOUSE! TAKE HIM ANYWHERE BUT HERE!"  
"But--  
"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME JUST GO!"  
With one last look at James she began her retreat up the stairs.  
"Alohamora." Said a high, cold voice from outside the front door. A few moments later, the door to the house and opened, and the Dark Lord camed into the Potter residence, an evil smile etched on his face.  
"They're not here," James said in a calm voice, "You have failed again."  
Voldemort responded, "Liar. This is it Potter, your final minute here on Earth."  
"You will not have my son," James responded coolly, "I will die before you lay a hand on him."  
"Very well then," Voldemort replied evilly, "let's get it over with then, shall we?"  
James raised his wand and shouted, "CRUCIO."  
"Protego." Voldemort replied, wand raised.  
The curse rebounded from Voldemort and hit James with full force. He was shaking violently, eyes rolled back in his head, screaming. James, weak, stood up and uttered, "Expelliramus."  
The spell missed Voldemort. Voldemort, grinning from ear to ear said, "Avada Kedavra."  
A jet of green light hit James. It ripped through his heart and came out his back. With one final breath, James, who had defied Voldemort three times before, fell to the ground. He was dead before hitting the ground, eyes wide open and a look of surprise etched onto his now pale face.  
"JAAAMES!!!!" Lily cried from the top landing, she had seen the final moments of her husband's life. Voldemort turned his head upward to look at the now pale face of Lily. His red eyes shinning with joy at the final defeat of James Potter, he smiled evilly at Lily and began his climb up towards her.  
She screamed and made her way into the nursery. She had to reach the fire place before Voldemort entered the room. James was dead and now she had to try to saver herself and Harry. She closed the door before Voldemort had reached the top most step and locked it. She made her way over to the fire palce, Harry clutched tightly to her chest.  
Before she could pick up the powder, however, the door to the room was launched from its hinges and slammed into the back of Lily. She toppled to the ground, and somehow was able to get Harry ontop of her before hitting the hard floor. Voldemort was walking slowly towards her, triumph etched on every inch of his snake- like face.  
"Stand aside girl." He said.  
"NO! PLEASE DON'T KILL HARRY! PLEASE!  
"Move away girl." He said.  
"HE'S ONLY A YEAR OLD, PLEASE HAVE MERCY!  
"This is your last chance."  
"PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM! K-KILL ME INSTEAD!"  
"Fine," he said, "We'll do this the hard way."  
He pointed his wand at Lily's heart and shouted. "Avada Kedavra."  
The green light of the spell passed through Lily. Surprise etched on her face, she toppled to the ground. Her green eyes wide open, her features pale. Voldemort laughed again and, pointing his wand at the baby Harry, shouted the words again, "AVADA KEDAVRA."  
A falsh of green light covered the entire house hold, and, a few moments later, the glass of the windows exploded outward, and a huge explosion of smoke and flame shot sky high. The Potter House was no more.  
  
Sixty miles away, a man awoke from his cat nap. He had jet black hair and black eyes. He was pale and looking afraid and worried. He was Sirius Black. 


	2. Worst Fears Realized

CHAPTER TWO  
WORST FEARS REALIZED  
  
Sirius Black, the best friend of James Potter, was now wide awake. He was panting as if he had just go through running five miles non-stop. He had a very bad feeling about something. Whatever it was....he did not know. He began to worry, and he had no idea what he was worried about as well. What had he been dreaming? He knew that it had been a nightmare that had woken him up, but he could not recall the details. He did know that it was about James and Lily, but that was all he could remember about it. He rose up out of bed and with a small pain in his lower stomach, he walked into the bathroom.  
His stomach alway felt like it was cramped up. A scar from a battle that had taken place three years ago. A Death Eater by the name of Miller had gave him a very powerful cruciatus curse. When this is all over, I am headed someplace where there is a beach and plenty of sun, he thought to himself. He was now in the bathroom and looking at himself in the mirror abover the faucet. He looked rather sickly, and that small cat nap had been the first time that he had gone to sleep in three days. Turning the water on he took some in the palm of his hands and splashed it onto his face. You're younger than you look, a voice inside of his head told him. Yeah, you are absolutely right.  
A few minutes later he was out of the shower, all cleaned up and in a new set of clothes, and walking into the kitchen he found out what the time was. 11:30, the clock had read, thirty minutes to All Saints Day. He realized at that time that he was supposed to have called on Peter an hour and a half ago. Should I just forget about it, I mean it is late, Peter's probably asleep. But the prospect of James having a message for him was too big to ignore. So, with regret, he walked out into the night and mounted his flying motorcycle. With a turn of the key he was off, soaring into the darkness that was night. Lupin would be at his house, only not as a human, but as a werewolf. Sirius wondered if Remus was all right but then realized that Lupin was the spy and with that he quit caring for Remus. He was not going to waste his time worrying about the turncoat.  
About ten minutes after he had left his house, Sirius landed quietly on the front lawn of the Pettigrew House. With a jab of pain from his stomach, Sirius got off of his motorcycle and made his way to Peter's front door. Lights were on in the house hold, he must still be awake. Good. Sirius knocked on the door. He now imagined the small, chubby, round faced Peter Pettigrew to be walking toward the door. When the door opened Sirius would see the face of Peter brighten and would graciously usher Sirius inside. Peter would then tell him of the Potter's welfare, James would have given Peter a thousand messages for Sirius and he would listen to Peter tell him that James says to "becareful" and "Don't worry about us, we're fine."  
The seconds went by and still Peter had not come to the door. Sirius knocked again, only this time the door slowly creaked open. Sirius, being an impatient man, did not wait to be invited in, he just simply walked into the house and began searching for Peter. Only Peter did not seem to be here.  
"PETER," he shouted from the hallway, "IT'S SIRIUS, I'M HERE TO SEE YOU."  
Still there was no reply. Becoming annoyed, Sirius began searching the house for Peter. He checked the bathroom, no one in there. The kitchen, nothing. The Living Room, no one in there. He then checked the two bedrooms, no one in those either. Finally he checked the Study and still no Peter. Sirius was now more worried than he was angry or annoyed.  
"Where is he?" He said aloud to himself. There are no signs of struggle, so Voldemort hadn't got to him, had he?  
With one last scan of the house, Sirius walked back to where his motorcycle was parked and flew off into the night. He did not know the exact location of the Potter's but he had pretty good idea. A few minutes later he landed in Godric's Hollow and, getting off of his bike, he began to search for some clue as to where the house was. He did not have to search for long. For within a few minutes his worst fears were realized. He now saw the house of his best friend in ruins. His heart went from his chest to his stomach in nothing flat. He grew pale and, looking up into the sky, took some hope in the fact that the Dark Mark was not hovering above the house.  
Sirius ran into the wreckage of the Potter House and began shifting through the rubble in the hopes of finding some signs of life. He made his way toward the stairs, or what he thought to be the stairs. He looked down to what had been the foot of the stairs and seeing the sight that layed before him the little color that was left on his face drained out. He saw the face of his best friend, James. But this face was not alive and energetic, it was pale and surprised. He began to shake, but found the strength to remove the last remaining rubble piled ontop of James before completely losing it. He fell upon his knees took the body of James and held it up to his chest.  
"No..." Sirius said weakly, "Nooo..."  
He looked into the eyes of James Potter, hoping to find any sort of life in them, but there was nothing. James was dead. Sirius, just began to cry softly at first, but as the images of their childhood began to fly through his brain, emotion began to overtake him. With a howl that sounded like a dog crying out with sadness, Sirius Black gave into the largest show of emotion that he had ever had. He cried histerically, all the while keeping the lifeless body of his fallen friend close to his chest.  
"JAMES!! J-AMES!!!!! IT'S ALL MY FAULT, IT'S ALL MY FAULT!!!!!" He cried loudly, still weeping as though the entire Atlantic Ocean was falling from his eyes.  
"I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SMARTER JAMES, I-I-IF I H-HAD B-BEEN Y-YOU M-M- MIGHT STILL B-B-BE ALIVE!!!!!"  
"Sirius." A loud, but soothing voice said from behind him.  
Sirius slowly looked up and saw Hagrid, his bushy beard streaming with tears at the sight of the carnage.  
"I'm so s'orry, Sirius." Hagrid said again, his face now covered with tears.  
Sirius looked back to the dead body of James, with a shaking hand, Sirius closed the eyes of his friend. He looked away and got up, setting James's head gently down onto the ground. He looked up to Hagrid and noticed a bundle of blankets that Hagrid had clutched in his hands. But before he could get a better look at what Hagrid was holding he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Turning to face the object, his heart dropped again as he saw the lifeless body of Lily lying down upon the ground. But what of Harry?  
"H-Hagrid," he said, the tears beginning to come back, "where's Harry?  
"Hmm," Hagrid said, half hearing the sentence that Sirius had uttered, but then answered, "I've got 'em 'ere in me 'ands." The Giant said, "He's still alive. But Sirius," The giant began again, this time a hint of joy in his voice, "You-Know-'Oos dead. Little 'Arry killed 'em."  
"WHAT!" Sirius shouted, he couldn't believe it.  
"Yeah," Hagrid said, "lookie here."  
Sirius turned to face Hagrid and Hagrid motioned for Sirius to take the bundle of blankets. Sirius did so and when he did, he came face to face with the baby version of James. This was his godson. This was his son now, and, giving the baby Harry a look over, he noticed now that this baby was James reborn. He looked exactly like James in almost every way. But he knew that when Harry would open his eyes he would not have hazel colored eyes, but green eyes, Lily's eyes.  
"Let me take him home with me Hagrid." Sirius said, "He's my son now."  
"I'm 'fraid I can't let you do tha', Sirius." Hagrid replied sadly.  
"Why not?" Sirius replied, a note of anger hinted in his voice.  
"Dumbledore's orders, the boy is to go ter live with his aunt an' uncle."  
"Please, Hagrid, I must have Harry, I swore to James that if anything happened--  
"I know tha' Sirius, but orders are orders."  
"Fine. Take him."  
He gave Harry back to Hagrid, but reluctantly did so.  
"Take my bike." Sirius said shortly.  
"But Sirius, tha' bike mean a lot ter ya', you don't wan' me ter--  
"I said take it," Sirius shot, "I won't need it anymore."  
Sighing, Hagrid took the keys to the motorcycle and made his way over to where it was parked. With one last look at Sirius, Hagrid sped away toward wherever Harry's relatives were located. As soon as Hagrid was gone, a wave of fury came over Sirius. He was gritting his teeth, his eyes were becoming focused on some far off object.  
"PETTIGREW," he yelled as loud as he could, "YOU BASTARD!!!"  
He took his wand out, and did not notice that sparks were issuing from its tip. He was furious, pissed, beyond sane. Peter had betrayed them all, and Sirius had not seen this coming. He was stupid not to suspect Peter, why had he suspected Remus? He gave out a yell for all the world to hear. Before the sunset tommorow, Peter would be dead. Peter would be in hell before tommorow night, he, Sirius Black, would make sure of that.  
They would accuse him, it was no secret that he had been the Potter's original secret-keeper. So, when the wizarding world woke up in the morning to find that the war was over, but the Potters were dead, they would begin a massive man hunt. Not for Peter Pettigrew, no, they would be looking for Sirius Black. With one last look at the bodies of Lily and James, Sirius walked into the darkness of the night, Sirius Black was walking toward his destiny, and nothing would stop him, he would make sure of that. 


	3. The Hunter becomes the Hunted

CHAPTER THREE  
The Hunter Becomes the Hunted  
  
No one, not even James himself, could understand or even contimplate the anger that was coursing its way through the veins of Sirius Black. He was well beyond insanity, nothing was running through his body at that very moment, nothing but hate. It was now sun-up on the morning of November 1, 1981, and already rumors were starting to work its way through the wizarding world, rumors that spoke of the death of the Dark Lord Voldemort. These rumors did not even reach the ears of Sirius Black, for all he heard on that morning was his own thoughts. Thoughts of manhandling the chubby figure of Peter Pettigrew. What Curse shall I use on him first?  
He decided on a course of action: He would kill him slow, very slowly, making him feel every ounce of pain that he, Sirius Black, inflicted on him. There was no emotion running through him. His eyes were bloodshot from the tears that he had shed the previous night, and no more tears were left in his body to shed. He was a mindless zombie that was bent on only one thing: murder.  
He knew that Peter Pettigrew would try to get out of dodge, he knew that at this very moment Pettigrew was standing in line to get a ticket for the earliest train out of Britain. He would stop him long before he even saw the train, he must stop him. He walked down the crowded muggle streets of London, absentmindedly bumping into people. He didn't notice this, he could only see one thing, and that was his objective. Where is that rat? Where is that coward of a man, that traitor of friends, that evil, fat ass moron that has just signed his own death warrant?  
He was at the train station now and he began to look for the small, chubby figure of Peter Pettigrew. It didn't take long, Pettigrew was walking toward a gray-colored train, looking quickly around to his left and right. He broke into a run, and was now within calling distance.  
"PETTIGREW!" He shouted, elbowing his way toward him.  
Peter turned around, his eyes nearly popping out of his head at the sight of Sirius. Peter began to turn his head in every which direction, trying to find a corridor in which to escape. He decided on a path to his right and made a run for it.  
Sirius ran after him. Pettigrew wasn't getting away. He will pay for this treachery that is well beyond what you would call evil. They had reached a dead end, many people were walking on this little side street. Pettigrew continued to look around for an alternate route, but everything was closed off...he was trapped.  
"PETTIGREW," Sirius shouted, taking out his wand, "PREPARE TO MEET YOUR MAKER....IN HELL!!!"  
"NO!" Pettigrew shouted. He had taken his wand out as well. With what looked like some very quick thinking, Pettigrew suddenly began to shout, "SIRIUS!!! YOU TRAITOR!!! LILY AND JAMES, SIRIUS!! HOW COULD YOU?! YOU MURDERED THEM!!!!  
Pettigrew now had his wand behind his back and before Sirius could even mutter the two simple words that he so desperately, a low rumble which grew into a roar, caused the ground to shake and then, an explosion rang out from up under Pettigrew. Smoke and flame shout a hundred feet into the air. Bodies fell into the huge crater left by the explosion. Hundreds of people began to run for it. Sirius was flung back twenty feet before hitting the back of his head on the pavement.  
The world began to spin, but he quickly regained his senses. Standing up, he stood over the crater that Pettigrew's curse had created. He just stared into it, unblinking. Pettigrew had killed himself....the idiot. I was suppose to kill him, Sirius thought. He chuckled, but that chuckle became a laugh, and that laugh became a roar of laughter and that roar of laughter became an insane cackle. And he couldn't help it. He just stood there, gawking at the crater and the dead bodies within it, laughing his full head off.  
Sirens began to sound and began making their way towards Sirius. A Ministry of Magic car pulled over on the main street, opposite the crater. Out popped Frank Longbottom and Cornelius Fudge. They saw the scene before them and did not need to think about what they had seen any longer.  
"Sirius Black," Frank said, his wand out, "in the name of the Ministry of Magic, you are under the arrest for the murders of James Potter and Lily Potter, the murder of Petter Pettigrew and fourteen muggles."  
Sirius, still laughing but hearing every word Frank had said, just nodded and continued to laugh. Both Frank and Fudge grabbed him by the arms and shoved him toward the Ministry Car. They pushed him into it and they drove off toward the Ministry of Magic itself.  
  
"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Shouted Sirius Black for the nineteenth time. He was in an interrigation room, Bartemus Crouch was sitting in the chair opposite him, tapping his pen on the wooden table before him. Above Sirius stood an Auror named Jamison. With this shout Crouch nodded to the Auror and Jamison punched Sirius in the stomach.  
"I am only going to ask this so many times, Mr. Black," Crouch said calmly, "What are the names of the remaining Death Eaters?"  
"I told you," Sirius began, preparing to be punched again, "I am not one of them so how the hell should I know what their names are?"  
However, Crouch didn't nod to Jamison this time, he simply just folded his hands and leaned closer to Sirius.  
"The more you tell me, the more I can guarantee that you will not be kissed."  
What little color was left on Sirius's face left it. "I already told you Crouch, I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE!"  
SMACK. Jamison had slapped Sirius across the face.  
"It's Mr. Crouch to you scum bag." Jamison said nastily.  
"Black you either reveal their names or I will have no choice but to have the Dementors administor the kiss."  
"FINE," Sirius spat, "you want names? I'll tell you the ones that I know: Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Igor Karkaroff, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Avery--  
"We already know the names of these Death Eaters, as do you." Crouch stated coolly.  
"You wanted names," Sirius snapped, "And I gave them to you."  
"And that's the best you can do?" Crouch asked, eyebrows raised.  
"For an innocent man, yes." Sirius finished.  
Sighing, Crouch took one last look at Sirius, before standing up. Before he left the room he turned back and said, "Oh, the sentence. You are to be locked up in Azkaban for the rest of your miserable life. It should give you enough time to brood on what you have done to your friends. I would never have thought, that you, out of all people would betray the Potters. I mean you were such close friends." He sighed again and exited.  
"NO TRIAL?!" Sirius called after him.  
Crouch either had not heard this comment or just ignored it because he didn't respond. Jamison looked down on Sirius, nothing but the upmost loathing etched on his face.  
"How could you Black, how could you betray your friends?" The Auror asked. Sirius did not answer, he just stared out into space, not wanting to believe that James was dead and that HE was going to Azkaban.  
This had to be a dream, he tried to pinch himself to see if he would wake up, but he was under the full body bind curse. This was just to hard to believe, it was an impossible worst-case scenario. Harry, he had failed Harry, he had failed James and he had failed Lily. He had wrongly accused Lupin. He had wrongly accused the werewolf. He had asked to see Remus, but Remus had sent an owl saying that he would not see him.  
Well Lupin did suspect me. I just can't tell him, my only true friend left on this earth, what I want to tell him: My side of the story. If Remus would come down here and hear him out he may be able to sort this mess out and go retrieve Harry from his aunt and uncles. But Sirius could not have imagined that his troubles were only just beginning. 


	4. Fortress on an Island

CHAPTER 4  
FORTRESS ON AN ISLAND  
  
The news had spread like wild fire across the wizarding world. The story began, on the night of October 31, 1981 in the neighborhood of Godric's Hollow. The story began with the Potters: James, Lily, and their baby boy, Harry. It was around 10:30 P.M., so they say, when it happened. Voldemort, or "You-Know-Who" as they called him in the story, came strolling up the drive-way in the Potter's front yard. James tried to buy Lily time to get Harry out of the house and to safety by dueling the dark lord. James, they had said, fought bravely but was quickly dispatched by the evil wizard. He then went after Lily and Harry. After Lily pleaded with Voldemort to spare Harry and kill her instead, Lily was indeed murdered by Voldemort and then came the most shocking part of the story. Voldemort rounded on the one year old boy and muttered the same curse that had killed his mother and father before him. But the curse had rebounded off of Harry Potter and had instead hit Voldemort with full force.  
Voldemort was then destoryed. That's how the story went anyway. No one knew the details and many people would hardly ever learn them. But the reason for the Potter's death all originated from a traitor, and all who knew the side story thought that it was Sirius Black. And yet Black had pleaded innocent since he had arrived at the Ministry of Magic. But that was not enough. Before their memories were erased, the survivors of that curse that had blown the street apart from up under Sirius Black swore that they heard Peter Pettigrew shout out to the street that Black had betrayed the Potters and then proceeded to kill Pettigrew.  
After only two days of being held by the ministry Black was ordered into an armored ministry truck and began his trek to Azkaban fortress. Azkaban had been been built in 705 A.D. and was used as a Muggle torture chamber at first, but after the defeat of the dark wizard that ran the place, the fortress was converted into a prison for him and his followers. Now it was a fully-fledged Wizarding Prison. Black could not remember the ride to the port where which he would begin his final leg of the journey to Azkaban, because he was afraid beyond his whits. He could not see how this could turn out all right for him. The only thing that he could take satisfaction in is that they had the wrong man. He was innocent, but he had noo proof.  
The armored truck stopped and the back door was opened. Two aurors pulled him out into the open air. He looked out to the west and saw the outline of an enormous castle just barely seen upon the horizon.  
"Is that-" he began.  
"Azkaban." one of the aurors finished for him, grinning maliously at him.  
A shiver of fear ran through his body at the very mention of the name.  
"Fifteen miles out to sea, impossible to break out." The auror said again, breaking the short silence. "If you'll just follow us, we'll take you to hell."  
They led him to a small row boat. Upon entering, the boat began to row on its own. Sirius had no chance of escaping, he was under the full body bind.  
"Oh, Mr. Black, the fun times you have in store for you," the second auror began, "See you in about fifty years....at your first parole hearing."  
The other auror laughed, but Black didn't hear them, he was too busy thinking about the past events to even pay attention to their put downs and laughs about his time that he was about to serve in Azkaban.  
"They don't even need bars to keep you locked up in there, Black. Within a few days you will be too insane to even think about what you did the day before." The second auror continued.  
With each passing minute they became closer and closer to Azkaban. Sirius began to feel a little on edge. The fortress was now right there in front of them. It was huge. Even from a mile out he could hear the screams of the prisoners that were locked up in side.  
They passed under an arch and pulled up to a landing underneath the arch. They led him out of the boat and into a damp, and slimmy hallway. At the end of this dark and damp hall was a desk with a man sitting behind it. He was busy writing something and did not look up when Black and the two aurors stopped in front of him.  
He finally looked up and upon seeing these new faces let out a small gasp of surpirse.  
"Ah," the warden said, looking from the aurors to Sirius, "I see we have a new prisoner."  
"Yes," Said the first Auror, "This is Sirius Black and I expect he's being put in the Maximum Security Wing?"  
"Yes," the warden said, looking down at his log, "That is correct, cell 323 as a matter of fact. And precautions have been put in place, he will be the most guarded prisoner in this entire castle."  
"Good." the first auror said simply.  
"So," the Warden continued, "If you'll just sign on the dotted line this Black fella will be out of your custody and into mine."  
They didn't need telling twice. They wanted out of the castle. They quickly signed and, with one evil smile to Black, left the building.  
"So," the Warden said, "Sirius Black, the most infamous traitor of the Great War is now here to serve his life long sentence in Azkaban." And turning his head to his right he shouted, "GUARDS."  
And then he saw him, two hooded creatures with scabby hands, glided across the stone floor and over to Black. They were dementors and with rattling breath, they attempted to suck the happiness out of his mind. But for some reason it wasn't as bad as most people said it was. Although they were horrible, he did not feel sad thoughts and he did not realize why. The Dementors did not seem to notice this and neither did the Warden. But, with out hesitation, Sirius followed the Dementors down the long corridor toward his cell.  
  
It was unbelievable. The amount of noise that was being uttered all around him.  
"Mommy!"  
"I hate flies, get those flies away from me."  
"PLEASE DON'T--DON'T KILL HER!!"  
"I WANT TO DIE, GET IT OVER WITH, KILL ME!!!"  
"BLOOD!!!! I AM BLEEDING!!!!! AAAHH!!!!  
Wherever Sirius turned there was insanity. The living conditions for the prisoners were horrible. He could not comprehend the filth that he saw lingering in the dungeons of Azkaban. The Dementors stopped infront of the cell that had the number 323 over it. The cell opened by itself and Sirius was pushed into it. The cell quickly sealed itself and now Sirius was trapped. If the dementors weren't driving him insane, then it was the noise from the other prisoners. They would not shut up. And as he leaned up against the wall on the first night of his life long stay in Azkaban, the events of the past few days flashed through his head. Sirius refusing to be the Potter's Secret Keeper, Peter taking up the position instead, the betrayal of his best friends, the suicide of Peter Pettigrew, his own arrest, and now his first day in Azkaban.  
He could not go to sleep for the noise from the prisoners was too much. He placed his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and then began to cry. His life was over. If only he had rope, if only he had some sort of weapon he could just end it right now. As he closed his eyes and wept, hoping that the nightmare would end, he began to realize that this was a nightmare that he was stuck in, and it was a nightmare that would never end. He was friendless, and everyone that he was close to him that wasn't dead thought him to be a murderer. He was in a way, THE reason for the death of his best friend and his best friend's wife. 


	5. The Prisoner called Crouch Jr

CHAPTER FIVE  
The Prisoner Called Crouch  
  
Within a few days of his imprisonment, Sirius Black was already feeling uneasy. With Voldemort now finally defeated, the Ministry of Magic, with help from the Order of the Phoenix, were tracking the last faithful Death Eaters down. Inside the prison everything remained constant, the screaming of the prisoners from Dawn and the screams did not seem to start dying down until well after mid-night. You had a small breakfast of stale toast and a dinner of stale un-toasted bread. They didn't feed much in Azkaban, and humans did not feed you, the dementors did. Sirius Black could not understand the babble of the prisoner in the cell next to him.  
The first night he was here the prisoner was going on and on about a Double-Crosser. Saying, "The Double Crosser, double crossed." over and over again in his sleep. He gave up trying to interpert what this man was saying two days into his sentence, taking it as nothing but lunacy talk. But on Sunday of that first week in Azkaban something happened that Sirius had not thought possible: the prisoners were allowed to walk around in a large square in the middle of the fortress. It was enclosed, but any chance of walking around was always good enough, no matter if the walking area was inside or out. It was here that he made his first conversation with one of the high security prisoners.  
"Hey," the prisoner had said weakly, "What's your name."  
Sirius did not want to answer the prisoner, in fact he was not going to. But the prisoner continued, trying hard to make conversation.  
"You might as well talk," he began again, "From what I hear you have a long time until you get out of here."  
"I don't." Sirius finally said in a hoarse voice.  
"Don't what?" the prisoner responded.  
"Don't get out of here. I have a life sentence."  
"Ooh-Wee, and I thought I had it bad."  
Sirius realized at that moment that this certain prisoner was American, a Northerner by the sound of him.  
"I have a sixty year sentence, and have served about ten of that, time goes by slow in Azkaban my friend. Ten years seems like a hundred."  
"Do they usually let us walk around?" Sirius asked.  
"Only once a week, usually on sundays." the prisoner replied.  
Sirius was becoming fond of this man, at least it was some one to talk to besides the wall.  
"My name is Marcus O'Dell." The prisoner said, extending his hand.  
"Sirius Black." he replied, taking O'Dell's outstretched hand. After shaking hands, O'Dell looked over Sirius with extreme curiosity. And then finally said, "You sure you're Sirius Black?"  
"Of course I'm sure," said Sirius, starting to look upon O'Dell with confusion. "Why?"  
"Well," O'Dell began, "It's said that your the most guarded prisoner in the entire fortress and you look as though you haven't even been in Azkaban. You look normal."  
"I've only been here a week."  
"Even so," O'Dell began, "You should be weaker than weak can get."  
"Maybe it's the fact that I'm innocent." Sirius offered.  
O'Dell frowned at Black, then finally said, "We're all innocent men here in Azkaban."  
"What about you," Sirius inquired, "Are you innocent?"  
O'Dell waited for a moment, then finally responded, "The only guilty man in Azkaban."  
"What did you do?"  
"I was livin' in New York. Me and a friend walked into a muggle bar and bought a few drinks. Well, there were two drunken Muggle men in that bar, both of them prison escapees that had changed their appearances. Well they attacked us for no reason whatsoever, my friend didn't even have time to react, they killed him by slitting his throat. So I just took out my wand and said the first curse to come to mind: The Killing Curse. They gave me sixty years for murder and he breakage of the Statue of Secrecy. If it had been two wizards instead of muggles I probably would have gotten life."  
Sirius was about to tell Marcus the reason why he was here, he was going to tell him what really happened the night that James and Lily died, but a gong sounded from deep in the castle and the prisoners began to make their way back into the hallways.  
"MOVE QUICKLY," said the voice of the warden from overhead, "OR YOU WILL RECIEVE THE KISS!"  
The prisoners, who had recovered a little bit of their sanity within the past twenty minutes, did not need telling twice. So, Sirius returned to the small cell that he had been asigned to.  
It took the prisoners a few hours to start losing it again, but once they did lose it, the noise was unbearable. The same screaming pleas, the same shouts of innocence, the same cries of "I'm not suppose to be here," echoed through the maximum security wing of the fortress. How am I to put up with this, Sirius asked himself. Why can't God have mercy on me and kill me right now. Please God, strike me down, please god strike me down. And then Sirius yelled it for the world to hear, "PLEASE, GOD, STRIKE ME DOWN!!"  
Sirius only uttered this once before recovering his pride. It won't make a bit of difference, this is your hell and god does not look down upon those men and women who had lived the Wrong life.  
  
A few days after he had his little chat with Marcus O'Dell, a new prisoner was brought in to the high security wing. He had sandy blond hair, and blue eyes. He was the exact image of Bartemus Crouch, only younger. What was he doing here, Sirius thought. But then he heard the talk between the Warden and the Aurors you escourted Crouch Jr. down to the cell next to Sirius.  
"Shame that had to happen to them," the Warden said, conversing with the aurors, "I mean, the Longbottoms were good wizards, and to have that happen to them, I mean they're worse off than the Potters and the Potters are dead."  
"Ay." the Auror said shortly.  
"Anywho," the Warden piped up again, "We should'nt see Crouch's son in public again, nor should we see the Lestranges."  
They closed the door to the cell and began to make their way back down to the main hall.  
"Would you like some tea, Mr. Moody, before we you leave the island."  
"I am a little busy," growled Moody, "Dumbledore and the Order are still trying to find a job for Remus Lupin and a few others."  
"I see." the Warden said shortly.  
"Lupin." Sirius whispered to himself, "I'm sorry that I suspected you, I hope that one day that I can see you again and tell you that."  
He began to picture Lupin in his mind, but nothing came to him. I can't even organize a thought anymore. Everytime I try to picture Lupin I became a little depressed. Before he could think again a cry echoed from the cell next to him.  
"MUMMY!"  
Several prisoners near Crouch Jr.'s cell said, "Mummy." in mocking tones. The ones who were sane enough to laugh at Crouch Jr. did laugh.  
"Little baby boy is afraid of the prison!" called a prisoner a few levels above Crouch's cell.  
"Keep on crying little one, you're still a little on the normal side, you've got a long way to go." called the voice of Marcus O'Dell, but not mockingly.  
"I WANT MY MUMMY!" Cried Crouch Jr.  
"He wants his mummy." laughed one of the prisoners.  
"Is it time for her to give you your bottle little baby prisoner?" called another one.  
And with that, a new group of dementors strolled into the Maximum Security Wing, sucking all of the positive energy out of the jeering prisoners. All fell silent. Sirius could not get to sleep that night, partly because of his tries to picture Remus Lupin in his mind and partly because of the crying of Bartemus Crouch Jr. in the cell next door.  
A month later, Sirius watched Crouch's mother and father walk into the prison and, with a hugh sigh, Crouch Sr. followed his wife over to the cell of their son. Sirius, who saw Crouch Sr. approach, gave him a look of pure loathing before heading back into the corner of his cell. He heard the conversation.  
"Barty he's weak," cried Mrs. Crouch through her tears, "we need to get him to a doctor."  
"It's the way it goes," muttered Mr. Crouch, obviously Crouch was trying to keep a low profile. Sirius began to feel sleepy. He hadn't slept in four days now. And because of lack of food and sleep, Sirius took on a different appearance. He now weighed under a hundred pounds. His face was stretched out over his skull, like a snake's, and his eyes had retreated deep into their sockets. He could barely understand the conversation that was going on next door. He fell asleep.  
Waking up shortly after midnight, he realized that the cries from Crouch's cell had woken him up. He gave a soft cry of anger and lay back down. He couldn't go to sleep. I hope that Crouch dies soon or gets moved some place else, he thought to himself. He had slept a good five hours, which was the most sleep he had gotten in a day since the week before the death of James and Lily.  
A few weeks later, the prayer of Sirius' was answered, for Barty Crouch Jr. died in his cell. He was buried in a rather large cemetery located on the backside of the island. Sirius was now fearful, it had never occured to him that Azkaban could kill you long before your sentence was up. It made Sirius feel sick inside. Maybe the fate of Crouch Jr. is my fate, he thought to himself. 


	6. A meeting with Death Eaters

CHAPTER SIX  
A MEETING WITH DEATH EATERS  
  
The conditions in the prison were worse than Sirius had expected them to be. Although the prisoners were allowed to walk around the "court yard" every Sunday, most of the time in the prison was spent in isolation. The stronger ones who could at least keep a little bit of their sanity tried to make conversation during the night hours, but when the Dementors felt even the smallest of laughs, they would drop in and prey on the positive energy. Sirius could think of one reason to keep on going. He wanted to die, and as the weeks went by, the want to kill himself began to grow inside of him. It wasn't a happy thought, so it gave him satisfaction to keep this thought from being sucked away from him by those Dementors.  
Another Sunday came and the Dementors reluctantly released the prisoners into the large, indoor courtyard. Sirius quickly found his talking buddies: Marcus O'Dell, Vincent Matthews, and Jason Linder. With an extra ounce of energy, he pushed on faster toward his prison buddies that were waiting for him.  
"Have you heard the rumor that's making the rounds?" Vincent Matthews asked Sirius in a deep, booming voice.  
"What's that?" Sirius replied, now huddled around his new-found friends.  
"It appears that Bartemus Crouch has stepped down from the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Matthews continued, a smile now appearing on his face.  
"Well, well, well," Sirius began, smiling for the first time in months, "the fact that his son was a Death Eater must have finally unnerved him."  
He gave out a laugh that sounded like a dog barking. But he quickly stifled it when he saw a Dementor turn his way. The Dementors were still seemingly angry with him because he appeared to be the only prisoner that was not losing his mind. The Dementors were having a hard time getting any emotion out of him, and, for his sanity's sake, he wanted to keep it that way.  
"So, uh, any other news," Sirius began nervously, still not taking his eye off of the Dementor.  
"No such luck." Marcus said grimly, "This devil of a warden is trying to restrict our communications with the outside world. So that means that the Daily Prophet is not being distributed to the prisoners as much as it used to be."  
Marcus sighed and then added, "But that only applies to the Maximum Security Prisoners."  
Sirius turned away from the grim looking face of Marcus. News from the outside is all that Marcus had going for him at Azkaban. The canceling of his subscription by the Warden would surely KILL Marcus. Sirius closed his eyes and turned back to look at Marcus, pity etched in his face.  
"I'm sorry Marcus." He said simply.  
"Ah...that's all right." Marcus began, emotion beginning to spread over him.  
"Marcus Stop it," Jason said pleadingly, "They'll sense emotions, stop it!  
Only Marcus would have been able to stop the amount of emotions that were pouring into his body, for as soon as Jason ordered him to stop, Marcus felt all emotion leave him. It was as if God had blessed him.  
"I'm all right," Marcus began, "Just thinking why the warden wants us to suffer so much. I mean after all most of us have been through in this place."  
Sirius didn't know what to say. He sure couldn't respond to Marcus's inquiry toward the Warden because he had not been in this prison for as long as Marcus and the others he talked to had. There had to be some way to get out of this hell hole, but how?  
"We could always escape." Sirius said aloud. Marcus, Jason, and Vincent laughed shortly, Marcus replied, "Sirius, in the whole history of this prison, there've been over two thousand escape attempts. Not one of those escape attempts came close. And the fate that those attempted escapees had to face when they got back was worse than death."  
Sirius knew exactly what that fate had been: The Dementor's Kiss. It was the only time that a Dementor would show his face, and no one who has seen what their face look like were in too good of a position to tell others what they saw. The Dementor would suck the soul of the bodies of their victims, and the victim would live for all eternity with no thoughts whatsoever. The victim was reduced to nothing more than an empty shell.  
Sirius gave a quick shiver at the thought of it. But before he could respond to Marcus's previous sentence a voice from behind called his name. It was a man's and it was spoken in a thick Russian accent.  
"BLACK!" the voice of Antonin Dolohov called from about ten yards away. Sirius turned and gave a small gasp of surprise, but that look of surprise quickly turned into a look of loathing. This was Antonin Dolohov, a Death Eater that he had encountered numerous times while he served in the Order of the Phoenix. Dolohov's once charming and rather handsome face was replaced by a thinning layer of skin that stretched across his face just like Sirius's. Dolohov also had a look of loathing, but was also sporting a look of amusement. Dolohov strolled quickly over to Sirius. Sirius balled up his fists, and was readying for a fight.  
The three men behind Sirius were showing signs of backing Sirius up but Sirius hissed, "I handle this."  
Dolohov stopped right in front of Sirius and both of them stared each other down for a few long moments before Dolohov's face turned into a wicked grin. Sirius returned to the grin in response and was beginning to feel rather murderous. Dolohov finally broke the silence.  
"Who would've though," he began sneeringly, "that Sirius Black, long time thwarter of the Dark Lord's plans would be accused of the betrayal of the last people that he would ever betray. And I thought I had seen it all."  
Dolohov chuckled. Sirius, teeth barred, and wanting nothing more than to strangle the man in front of him, replied, "Well Dolohov, we all make mistakes, and I know now that I made the mistake of sparing your life one too many times."  
"How in God's name could they accuse the killer of five Death Eaters of murdering his best friend's family?"  
"Well one of your own set me up, that's how." Sirius spat savagely.  
"That's quite an accomplishment, Black," Dolohov retorted, "Seeing as how the true killer was a complete idiot."  
Sirius did not respond, for he noticed that the entire court yard was staring at Dolohov and him, with a forced smile, Sirius bowed rather curtly and turned his back on Dolohov. But Dolohov was not through with him. Without warning, Dolohov tackled Sirius to the ground. Both men began fighting. The prisoners were cheering. He could hear the screams of Marcus, "SEND 'EM TO HELL, SIRIUS!"  
Sirius finally freed his arms and proceeded to punch every piece of Dolohov he could reach. Dolohov rolled over with a painful cry and now Sirius was on top of the two-man pile up. Everyone was now cheering madly, and this became too much for the Dementors to handle. Too many thoughts of glee and joy. Sirius was now winning the brawl. Dolohov's nose was bleeding very badly as Sirius kept on punching it and the surrounding areas.  
"STUPEFY!" A booming voice sounded from the distance. A jet of red light shot toward Sirius and hit him dead on. Sirius fell to the ground and knew nothing more.  
It took a while for the warden and the Dementors to sort them out, but eventually all of the prisoners were back in their cells, all of them except for Sirius Black. Dolohov had the majority of the prisoners on his side, this majority claimed that Sirius had attacked him for no reason whatsoever.  
When Sirius Black came to in the office of the Warden, he did not know where he was. He thought that he was at home, in his bedroom, and had just woken up from a very bad dream. But when the untidy office of the Warden came into view, Sirius Black knew that he was still in Hell. The office was devoid of anyone but himself. Would he receive the kiss, would he be doomed to know nothing for all eternity?  
The door to his right opened rather quickly and the sweaty face of the chubby Warden of Azkaban Prison came into view, quickly followed by the rest of his body. The Warden Slammed the door very hard, and went quickly to his seat. He eyed Sirius with the utmost dislike before finally breaking the silence.  
"So," the Warden began, "You've had a very busy afternoon."  
Sirius did not reply, so the Warden continued, "You've been in this prison for what, six months? And you still haven't even learned your lesson? Mark my words, Black, your actions today have forced me to take action on you."  
"And what would that be," Black said through gritted teeth.  
"You will not be allowed to converse with the rest of this prison's population for three years. And you will be kept under never-ceasing surveillance for the rest of your life. This means more Dementors outside your doors, both day and night. You will become more than heavily guarded. No one will be even able to look into your cell. Dementors, at least thirty at a time, will be placed outside of your cell. You are to be moved to a new, more isolated cell tonight and will stay there for the rest of your sentence."  
Sirius did not answer he just looked past the Warden and looked into space. I am done for he thought. Indeed, within the hour, he had been moved to that new cell, and, just as the Warden promised, no less than thirty Dementors took position around his cell. He did not see all of them, he could just feel their presence. 


	7. A Kiss for your Friend

CHAPTER SEVEN  
A Kiss for your Friend  
  
Sirius Black awoke on a Sunday morning in February of 1983 to realize that he had just completed a year of solidary confinement. Dementors crowded around outside of his tiny cell every day and night. Surely Sirius Black, as strong as he was, could not stand up to thirty Dementors feeding on his emotions twenty-four hours a day. It soon became apparent that this was no ordinary man. No matter how long the Dementors tried to feast off of the emotion that Black was feeling, he never seemed to have a happy thought come over him. He had closed his mind off and the dementors, being blind, just thought that this was a sign that Sirius Black was losing his mind.  
The Warden would sometimes take a walk down to Sirius Black's cell and would walk away bewildered. Sirius Black still appeared to be completely sane and in full possession of his mind. So the Warden ordered more Dementors to take up station around the already heavily guarded prisoner. No matter what the Dementors did, they could not feast off of Sirius. They were becoming angry with the Warden, so the Warden had the Dementors guard Sirius in shifts, so that the Dementors wouldn't starve and go insane themselves from lack of food and energy.  
It was a few months later that the Warden decided to give up punishing Sirius Black by keeping him in Solidary Confinement. He had Sirius return to cell 323, but shortened the rations that he recieved for breakfast and dinner. Sirius became one of the thinnest and sickest prisoners in Azkaban within a few short weeks. He was still not allowed to go out for Social Hour in the indoor Court Yards, but at least he got to see human inhabitants, no matter how mad they were, they were at least something to look at.  
It was late one Saturday Night, when Sirius was about to doze off to sleep that the door to his cell opened with a loud clang. An official looking wizard came walking into his cell, and instantly Sirius was wide awake and aware. Maybe they had proved his innocence, but the look on this tired, and old Wizard's face did not show any signs of this hope of Sirius'. The wizard was brought a stool to sit in and upon being given the stool the door to the cell closed with another loud clang. The official looking wizard just stared at him for a few moments before finally saying, "Good Evening Mr. Black, I am Brandon Feazell and am with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am an Order of Merlin First Class, a Warlock of the--  
"Can we just skip the pleasantries and get to the point," Interuppted Sirius, becoming annoyed.  
"Oh," said Brandon, fear coming evident in his worn brown eyes, "Y- yes we'll skip to the point. Uh, I am here to ask you a question."  
"So you're just here to ask me a question, eh?" Snarled Sirius.  
"Yes I am just here for that I'm afraid." He said, his courage coming back to him.  
"The Ministry is hearing rumors that You-Know-Who may still be alive. So if you'd be so kind as to tell us his whereabouts, your sentence could be reduced significantly."  
"Well Mr. Feazell, I would tell you but if it wasn't for the simple fact that I have never been on Voldemort's good side we could negotiate. I have no clue where Voldemort is--  
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME." Yelled Feazell, looking around fearfully.  
"I can't help the Ministry, you're just going to have to go back to dreary old London and tell your boss, whoever he may be, that I don't know where he is and the fact that he may still be alive is NEWS to me."  
Brandon didn't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that their little chat was over. He bowed curtly and the cell door opened. Once Feazell was out of the compartment, the cell door slammed shut again.  
  
A few days later, during the middle of the night, Sirius was lying on the floor of his cell, thinking furiously. How could Voldemort still be alive? And if he was, what if Peter is still alive? Nah, Peter killed himself, I saw it with my own eyes, he thought to himself. But if he was...  
He was nearly asleep, and when he did fall off to sleep it would be a first since the first night back from solidary confinement. But all of a sudden an alarm rang loudly over head. Some of the more insane prisoners began to scream horribly when the loud "Awooo" of the the alarm kept going and going. Sirius got up and crossed over to the barred entrance to his cell. He could see Marcus O'Dell looking at him.  
"What's going on?!" he shouted to Marcus.  
"There's a prisoner out of his cell that is trying to escape!" Marcus answered back over the alarm.  
Men who he had never seen before began running through the hallways, Dementors gliding along after them. Those must be Aurors, he said to himself. The alarm continued to sound all throughout the castle. It was about half an hour later when the alarm finally shut off. There was a painful minute of dead silence following the shutting down of the alarm. After that one minute, the voice of the Warden boomed throughout the castle for all of the prisoners to hear.  
"The Inmate has been caught. All prisoners are to be shuffled down to Court Yard number five tommorow at dawn for a demonstration. This demonstration will give you insight to the fate that awaits you when you are caught. Good Night Azkaban."  
And with that the prison fell silent. It took a while for the insanity to return to the Maximum Security Wing and once it did, it was as if Sirius had never heard it before. He clamped his hands down tight on his ears trying desperatley to block out the screams and pleads that were resuming on his Wing. Someone is going to be kissed tommorow, he thought to himself, I wonder who it is. And with that one final thought, despite the screams and shouts of the prisoners, Sirius Black was able to fall to sleep.  
  
Just as the Warden said they would the dawn brought the massive throng of the entire Prison Population to Court Yard Number Five. This was the biggest of the court yards and was able to house all of the prisoners with a lot of room to spare. There was a hastily prepared stage set at the Court Yard's front and upon this stage were two dangerous looking Aurors, their wands were out and at the ready. As the court yard became quiet with anticipation, the door at the back of the stage opened and out popped a third auror carrying a wooden chair. The auror set the chair down at the stage's middle and took up a position behind the chair.  
A few moments later brought a Dementor gliding out from behind the door, and followed by....Vincent Matthews a friend of Sirius Black. No, how could this be, Sirius thought. Vincent was extremely pale and was shaking from head to foot. He was led to the auror standing behind the chair he had the full body bind curse placed on Vincent. The auror then proceeded to slam Vincent into the chair. Again the door behind the stage opened and the Warden walked on stage, looking extremely pleased, and carrying a rolled up piece of official looking parchment in his right hand. He stopped above the shaking Vincent and unrolled the parchement and read for all to hear:  
  
VINCENT DAVID MATTHEWS You are hearby codemned by the Ministry of Magic and as well condemned by  
the Warden of the fortress prison known as Azkaban  
to suffer the final weapon and most deadly weapon of the Dementor:  
The Dementors kiss.  
The reason for this sentence can be found in your actions of last night  
March 3, 1983  
signed...blah...blah...blah, Minister of Magic  
  
"Let's get this matter over with." Finished the Warden, now rolling the parchment back up. He nodded to the dementor that was hovering over the shaking Vincent. And with that the Dementor swooped down onto Vincent, and pulled the cloak away to reveal his face. Vincent let out of bellow of a scream before the scabby hands of the dementor grabbed his pale face and pulled it up to the dementor's. With a long, rattling breath, the dementor began to suck in. A silver vapor erupted from the mouth of Vincent Matthews, causing Vincent's eyes to nearly pop out their sockets.  
Sirius turned away and felt as if he was going to vomit. When he gagged, but did not throw up, he looked back up and saw that the kiss had been performed. The dementor moved out of everyone's line of vision, as if letting everyone admire its handy work. Vincents eyes stared at some unseen object, unblinking, his mouth was open and his face was one of surprise.  
The Warden stepped forward and said to the auror nearest Vincent, "Take this piece of shit to St. Mungo's." Then, turning back to face the prisoners he said in a loud voice, "Let this be a lesson to you all. This is the fate that awaits anyone who tries to escape. Good day then."  
The prisoners took this as a sign to leave. One by one, the shocked prisoners filed back down their respected corridors, heading silently back to their cells. Marcus O'Dell, Jason Linder, and Sirius Black all returned to their cells, trying to hold back their emotions. While Marcus and Jason had to fight back tears, Sirius was having a hard time fighting off fits of laughter. This was the reason he was in Azkaban. If the muggles would not have seen him laughing into the crater where the bodies of Peter Pettigrew and thirteen other muggles were lying dead he may not have been sentenced to Azkaban after all. If he'd have been some one else, he would have taken this violent fit of laughter as a sign of insanity and would have thrown him in Azkaban just like the higher authority had done. But they didn't give him a trial, every man deserves a trial. He blamed Bartemous Crouch for that. But he also had to blame himself. I should've been the secret keeper, Sirius thought to himself, shortly after this last thought went through his head, Sirius Black drifted off into an uneasy sleep. 


	8. Black and the Warden

CHAPTER EIGHT  
Black and the Warden  
  
The fate of Vincent Matthews still brought a shiver up the spine of Sirius Black. Sirius himself had thought about the possibilites of escaping, but after Vincent bit it, he really didn't think too much on it anymore. There was no way to escape this mad house, he, Sirius Black was stuck here for all eternity.  
It had been more than three years since that terrible night and was now May of 1986, Sirius was keeping track of time, but how he was doing it, he did not know. But then he remembered the little snippits of the Daily Prophet that Marcus gave him every now and again gave him some clues of what the month and year was. It was Saturday, May 10, 1986 when he first heard it. He was very popular now with many of the prisoners and they took the time to say "Happy Birthday, Sirius." From the shadows of their cells. Sirius didn't have a Happy Birthday because he could not allow the Dementors to know that he still did have some emotions.  
He was still heavily guarded, no matter what kind of light he tried to put on it, he was still in Hell. The screams of the prisoners still echoed through the halls during the Night hours. But since he arrival in Azkaban back in 1981, he had been trying to cheer the prisoners up by telling them jokes and things of that nature. Although it did little in the long run, Black did allow them a few seconds of much needed laughter.  
One person that was not happy about what Black was doing to the prison was the head of the prison himself, the Warden. This man was making the High Security Prisoners' punishments that so much of a burden and that was making him sick. This Sirius Black was their Redemption from the hell that they were put in for punishment. And if things kept up, this prison would be nothing more than a correctional facility. This had to stop, he must stop it. If he didn't stop it, the eight hundred year dynasty that his ancestors had past down to him would come to an end. If it did, he would be the laughing stock of the magical community.  
It was on that May 10 in 1986 that the warden summoned Sirius Black into his office. Sirius, puzzled at this request, did what he was told. After only five minutes of being alone in the damp and dark office, the door to the Minimum Security Wing opened and the Warden came in, eyeing Sirius with much dislike. The Warden grunted as he sat down, and pulled a cigar from his pocket. Upon lighting it, he took a breath and then took the cigar out of his mouth, "What are you doing to this prison?"  
Black didn't say anything. He didn't think he was doing anything wrong.  
"You don't know what you're doing?" The Warden continued on, smoking his cigar and then continuing, "I'll tell you what you're doing, you are turning the Maximum Security Wing into a PLAY PEN!" He growled.  
"What you are doing is disrupting the system and everything it stands for!"  
Black took a deep breath and then said, "I am giving them hope."  
"HOPE?!" He said astounded, "THIS COMING FROM A MAN WHO KILLED HIS BEST FRIENDS AND TWELVE MUGGLES?!"  
"I didn't do it!" Black said, raising his voice.  
"Don't get that tone with me, Black," the Warden snarled, "These men don't deserve hope, they deserve punishment. This is not a Correctional Facility."  
"I realized that the first day I sat foot here." Sirius said coldly.  
"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOO!" Shouted the Warden, now standing up, "THIS IS AZKABAN PRISON, NOT MUGGLE GRADE SCHOOL! WE DO NOT SIMPLY SLAP SOME ONE ON THE WRIST AND TELL THEM NOT TO DO IT AGAIN!!!"  
"I KNOW THAT," Sirius shouted, he too was now standing up, "YOU ARE INHUMAN, WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU?!"  
"IT'S PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT DESERVE TO DIE! YOU HAVE ALL COMMITED MURDER ARE SOME OTHER HORRIBLE CRIME AND IT'S COWARDS LIKE YOU THAT DENY IT EVERY CHANCE THEY GET!!"  
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A COWARD?!" Shouted Black.  
"YES I AM!" Snarled the Warden, he now had a wand in hand and was pointing it at Black, Black either did not notice it or just didn't care.  
"YOU'RE THE COWARD, SITTING IN THIS COZY OFFICE LETTING THE DEMENTORS DO YOUR DIRTY WORK!"  
"I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO THAT WAY, CRUCIO!"  
The Cruciatus curse hit Sirius with complete surprise. It had been a while since he had been hit by this spell. Although he did not scream with pain, he could not get up because he was weak from the lack of food. He crawled along the floor trying to find something to raise him up, but he was just too weak. The Warden had a look of triumph in his eyes, he was now looking down upon Black as if he was a nasty rat that had just been hit by a blast of poison.  
Black began to crawl on all fours. The warden became amused and laughed, "My god, Black, you could easily pass for a dog."  
Sirius looked up from the ground, it was very painful to do so. A dog? Yes...he could pass for a dog for he had done it many times. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for one person this whole thing might not have happened. He collasped onto the hard, stone floor of the Warden's office and was knocked out cold.  
  
He had to be dreaming. He was at Hogwarts, and he looked to be in his second year at school, he sported Gryffindor robes and had a rather large, mischievious smile on his face. He was smiling at James Potter, his best friend. And they were seated at a table in the library.  
"You wanna do it?" Sirius asked.  
"Nah, you should do it." James replied.  
They turned their heads toward a nearby table on their right flank. A greasy haired Slytherin with a hooked nose sat pouring over a book on complex hexes and jinxes.  
"All right," Sirius said, giving a fake sigh, "If you insist."  
"Okay then." James said, laying out about twenty dung bombs on their table.  
"Wingardium Leviosa." Sirius muttered with the wave of his wand.  
"Hey guys," said a loud voice on their left, they turned to see their friend Peter Pettigrew striding toward them. Sirius was still levitating the twenty dung bombs toward the reading Severus Snape.  
"Hey Peter," said James shortly, "we've found out what Lupin is." He added some what in a grimace.  
"Well." Peter prompted.  
James leaned closer to Peter and said rather calmly, "He's a werewolf."  
Peter gulped, causing Sirius to look away from the Dung Bombs that he was leviating over toward Snape. "Just keep it on the QT Peter."  
"The QT," Said Peter Puzzled.  
"It means keep it quiet, Peter." James said, sighing.  
Sirius did not notice that the fleet of dung bombs that he meant to drop over Snape had overshot their target and were now hovering over a red headed, green eyed girl by the name of Lily Evans.  
Peter saw a book that Sirius had opened before him, it was thick and appeared to be very heavy, so Peter preceeded to slide the book over to himself so he could look at it. But Peter missed the book as it went sliding across the table and landed with a loud BANG on the hard stone floor of the library. This caused Sirius to break his concentration on the spell. The levitation charm wore off and the dung bombs landed on Lily. Twenty loud POPS announced that the Dung Bombs were exploding. James and Sirius watched in horror as Lily Evans became engulfed in a mass of smelling gas.  
Lily looked up as the gas cloud engulfed her, and she began scanning the library looking for the culprit. She didn't have to look long because James and Sirius were trying to keep their laughter from becoming bellows of histerical laughter, and Sirius had his wand out. She fumed with anger. But before she could say anything the loud, scolding voice of Madam Pince rang out, "DETENTION FOR MR.BLACK AND MR. POTTER, AND TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!"  
James and Sirius could not hold it back anymore. They just simply began to fill the cold silence of the library with wild fits of laughter.  
  
"WAKE UP!" Said a loud and cold voice. Something slammed into Sirius's rib cage, waking Sirius up. His eyes became focused and he saw the towering figure of the Warden standing over him. "GET UP!" the Warden said in the same tone.  
Slowly, with a lot of pain and struggling, the weak Sirius Black got up of the stone floor and stood before the Warden at attention.  
"You are to recieve three months of solidary confinement for your cheek, Mr. Black. Report to that respected cell now, Mr. Black." finished the Warden.  
Sirius turned an limped out of the office and back to the torture of solidary confinement. 


	9. The Azkaban Epidemic

Chapter Nine  
The Azkaban Epidemic  
  
Sirius Black had been in Solitary Confinement for two months. He hated it, being in this place day after day. He was beginning to lose all hope in having his name cleared. He was frequently having dreams about his days at Hogwarts and he could not figure out why either. Once again Sirius was in despair, a despair that seemed to not want to lift away from his weakened heart.  
The Warden was as bad as ever, having ordered two more kisses to be performed to prisoners that he had reason to believe were planning an insurrection. He was now chained to the wall of the prison, because it was his second offense, a third would...well let's just say that he didn't want to even think about it. Marcus was kind enough to get himself in trouble so as to be in this isolation with his new found friend.  
"Hey Sirius," Marcus began one night into his second month in confinement, "I tell you about my girl?"  
"No Marcus," Sirius said becoming interested.  
"Well she was the light of my life before I got here. I just heard that she died a week ago."  
"I'm sorry Marcus," Sirius said, trying to sound sympathetic, "If there is anything I can do—  
"What do you mean, 'if there is anything I can do?'" Marcus asked, "We're locked up in a prison with barely anything to eat. Anything you can do." Marcus chuckled a little bit.  
"So why'd you do it?" Sirius asked.  
"Do what?"  
"Kill those muggles. What were they doing to you?"  
"They were going to shoot me Sirius, with a gun or what ever they call their wands."  
"I see." Sirius said simply.  
"Why'd you do it Sirius?"  
"What kill all those people?"  
"Yeah," Marcus said, "why?"  
"I didn't Marcus," Sirius said, "I told you before that I'm innocent."  
"Who did it then?"  
"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius replied.  
"Peter Pettigrew's dead Sirius."  
"I know he is, but he committed suicide just after he cursed them."  
"Well," Marcus began, "You've always been truthful to me, so I guess I'm going to have to take your word for it."  
There was a long silence as both men just sat there, eyeing the wall that separated them. Marcus finally broke the silence. "You were good friends with James Potter weren't you?"  
"Yeah," Sirius sighed, "I was."  
"And you're Harry Potter's Godfather?"  
"Yes." Sirius said simply.  
"Don't you think that Harry will be brought up thinking that you were the one who betrayed his parents?"  
"The thought had occurred to me," Sirius began, "But we'll just have to take it as it comes to us."  
  
Sirius Black was let out a day before Marcus, and with one last look at his friend, Sirius marched back down to his regular cell. He was as skinny as ever, and he seemed not to have eyes anymore, for they had sunk deep into their sockets. Every time he was forced to walk for a short distance he would end up panting heavily. He was weak, too weak in fact. But the fact that he was innocent kept him alive and sane.  
He got into his cell and a voice belonging to some one he didn't know called out from a few floors above.  
"Hey, Sirius." The voice hissed.  
"What?" he replied.  
"Jason Linder's dead." The voice said simply.  
Sirius became white in the face, he could not cry. He gave out a nervous chuckle before saying, "H-how?"  
"He got some disease." The voice replied, "Several of the others have it too."  
"Can they do anything about it?"  
"No," the voice hissed, "We have no infirmary in Azkaban."  
  
"So how do you fight the disease then?"  
  
"You don't fight it. You can't. If you get it you'll die surely."  
That night, three more prisoners fell dead from this new threat in Azkaban. The Warden had some buried in the graveyard at the back of the prison. Over the next week and a half, ten more prisoners would bite the dust from the Azkaban Epidemic as it was now called. Never in the prison's history had so deadly a disease pass through corridors of the castle. In the sixth week of this deadly break out, thirty prisoners would die, fifteen of them in one day. It was starting to get out of hand, and the graveyard was getting dangerously full.  
It was in the epidemic's eighth week when it happened. Sirius was awake and was eyeing the sleeping figure of Marcus O'Dell in the cell across from his. Marcus was showing signs of having the disease and he feared for his friend. When Marcus woke up his worst fears were realized. Marcus had a fever, just like the other prisoners, with cold sweat issuing from his body constantly. The disease took about three days to kill and Sirius could now see that in about three days time, he would be friendless on this hellish island.  
He tried to comfort Marcus, but the fact that Sirius didn't believe in God, didn't help the situation that much. Finally, three days after Marcus had been infected by the plague, Marcus cried out in terror.  
"It's okay, Marcus," Sirius said soothingly, "Soon you'll be with God."  
"No I won't," Marcus said, crying, "I'm a murderer. God will never accept me into his Kingdom."  
"Oh yes he will," Sirius began, he himself trying to fight back tears, "Pretty soon, when God sees that you're coming up to him, he'll say 'well hear comes Marcus O'Dell, he asked for forgiveness and so I will allow him to enter into my kingdom.'"  
Marcus did not respond. Sirius gasped as he saw that his friend, Marcus O'Dell, had been killed by the Azkaban Epidemic.  
In the plague's tenth week, the Warden became infected with it. He was sent to St. Mungo's to battle it out and was sent a replacement by the name of Arthur Weasley. Weasley didn't get out of his office that much, half out of fear of getting the disease and also of fear of the Dementors.  
Finally, after twenty weeks of terror and death, the plague finally went away. But it had claimed the lives of one hundred and thirty prisoners. The Warden came back and relieved Arthur Weasley. The warden found that only thirty six of the prisoners could be buried in the cemetery. He announced to the Prison on that Tuesday when he returned, that the next day would see the entire prison population, digging up, burying, and burning bodies in the Graveyard. Sirius did not look forward to the next day and could not go to sleep, for the prospect of burning, burying, and digging up bodies, was not a good one. 


	10. The Inhumanity of it All

CHAPTER 10  
Dig, Bury, and Burn  
  
The day of the burials arrived too soon for Sirius Black. At 4:30 in the morning the cells opened up and three menacing looking Wizards came into each cell to yank the prisoners out to the graveyard. These wizards were brandishing wands that could only peform on spell: The Cruciatus Curse.  
Within minutes Sirius found himself ouside with the other prisoners. As always, the prisoners were grouped according to security levels. As the aurors briefed the other prisoners on what to do, (the dementors were not allowed to supervise the work because the Warden wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible) the Warden walked over to the high security group and gave them a speech of his own.  
"I don't care how weak or how mad you are, and I sure don't care about how healthy or sickly you are, no matter what sort of problems you might have, you will work. If you are caught not working or working at a slow pace, these highly skilled Aurors will be forced to administor the Cruciatus Curse."  
"I hope and pray," he continued, not sounding sympathetic at all, "that you do not force any of these aurors to curse you. And, if you die on the job, you don't have to worry because you died in a graveyard."  
He finished his speech, gave an evil smile, and strolled off toward the other groups of prisoners.  
  
The work was painful, the prisoners were vomiting and passing out, and the aurors shouted "Crucio" upon seeing the exausted pass out and the weak in stomach vomit all over themselves. The low security prisoners that had died during the epidemic were the only ones that the warden thought worth the time to bury.  
That meant that the first part of the work was digging up the bodies of those that the warden thought should be burned, this was a grusome and sickening task for Sirius and the other prisoners. They found out quickly that there were hardly any bodies buried by themselves. Most of the bodies they found had been placed in mass graves with a dozen others. The first mass grave that Sirius had come across proved to be too much for his already weak stomach, he vomited into the grave and accidently sprayed himself while he did this. A few moments after he finished throwing up, he was hit with the cruciatus curse. Prisoners were not permitted to waste time, and vomiting was considered to be a waste of time.  
All throughout the painful day of work, Aurors who were not muttering the incantation for the cruciatus curse were shouting at the prisoners that WERE working at the required pace. They would push these hard workers to work even faster, and if they faltered or slowed down, were given the cruciatus curse. Some aurors even amused themselves by pushing some of the working prisoners into the deep graves that they had just unearthed. And, once the prisoner was almost out of the hole, they would curse them, sending them back to the bottom of the pit, screaming with pain. This is beyond cruelty, Sirius thought when he saw two aurors costantly cursing a prisoner for no reason whatsoever, this is just inhuman.  
Finally the bodies that the warden wanted dug up were out of the earth. The day was at its hottest as they began to throw the newly made dead into the mass graves. Sirius helped throw these bodies in for a while, but for no reason whatsoever, he was given the cruciatus curse. The auror that had cursed him then shouted, "GO AND HELP BURN THE BODIES BLACK, OR ELSE I'LL CURSE YOU AGAIN!" Three large fires were hastily made and the prisoners selected for the job of burning the prisoners were grouped into pairs. Both he and his partner, a woman, seemed too weak to pick up even the lightest of corpses. Twice the exaustion nearly caused Sirius to stumble into the raging inferno that rose into the sky before him. And, as the work became too hard, and the day became even hotter, some of the prisoners were seriously thinking about ending it by jumping into the inferno. Some did, three in all. They leapt into the fire, screamed in pain for about a minute, and then fell silent.  
The days work had been tiring, and five prisoners had died, not counting the suicides of the three that jumped into the fire. Finally, just after mid-night, the job was done, and the Warden ordered the prisoners back into the castle. Most of the prisoners fell asleep as soon as they got into their cells, but Sirius Black waited a little while before conceding to the exaustion that covered his entire body. He was dripping with sweat and his own bodily fluids, mostly vomit. He could not stop thinking about Marcus and Jason, who's bodies he had seen burned in the massive, controlled fire. Why them? Why did God have to take his friends? If there was a god than why was he so cruel to him? Out of all the people to die in the epidemic why did his only friends in Azkaban prison have to be taken? He now had lost all hope, and indeed, Sirius Black was never the same again after that night. He no longer made the occasional joke to the other prisoners, he no longer tried to help the prisoners cope with their problems, he only cared about one person now...himself.  
It was now September 1st in the year 1991. Sirius realized that Harry Potter, the son of his BEST FRIEND, would be starting at Hogwarts in about fifteen hours time. He smiled slightly at this final comforting thought and fell into an uneasy sleep. 


	11. Prisoner Number 8175

CHAPTER 11  
Prisoner Number 8175  
  
It was Christmas Eve of 1991 and Sirius Black was in no condition to celebrate. For ten years he had been living in Azkaban, knowing fully well that he was innocent. He still had not gotten over the death of Marcus O'Dell, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the image of Marcus out of his head. Sirius Black was not the only prisoner in Azkaban that had no cause to celebrate Christmas, in fact, no one had cause to celebrate, not even the Warden. The Warden had recently learned that the Wizengamot would be investigating rumors of the cruel treatment he gave to his prisoners. It was snowing on the main land, but was pouring down rain on Azkaban island. A week of rain showers had made the already miserable living conditions a whole lot worse.  
The prisoners hated winter because of the freezing air that came through their barred windows, they had nothing to cover up with. Sirius had come down with a very bad cold and had not felt well enough to attend social hour for the past two sundays. So, there he sat, rotting slowly away in his cramped cell, seemingly destined to sit here for the rest of his life. He hoped that his life would end soon. He sneezed rather violently, rubbed his nose, and then rolled over with his legs tucked tight to his torso in the hopes of generating some much needed heat. He had nothing to wipe his nose with, not even his robes which were covered in mucus, dirt, and some other bodily fluids. This trash on his robes was ten years worth of filth.  
He had learned the day before that he would be getting a new neighbor in cell 324. Davies, the last occupier of 324, had died recently of Tuberculosis. Sirius had been forced to listen to the violent coughs that Davies gave during his last few nights alive; it was a terrible and painful sound that kept Sirius up all night for three straight days. When the disease first started affecting Davies, Davies asked the Warden if he could be treated at St. Mungo's. The Warden just began to laugh and laughed loudly all the way back to his office. So with Davies dead, Cell 324 was open for rent and, in no time at all, some one had done something bad enough to be allowed to occupy it.  
Sirius had learned that the prisoner would be arriving on Christmas Day. Some Christmas present, eh? He thought to himself. Sirius did not know the name of the incoming prisoner or his crime, just the length of his sentence: Life.  
So, on Christmas morning, Sirius Black awoke a little earlier than usual to get a good look at the new prisoner of Azkaban. It was thirty minutes before he heard the sound of footsteps coming closer towards him. The Warden was in the lead, and behind him, was a well built, red headed man that had to have been the prisoner. He had a worried, but determined look about him. Sirius admired this about the criminal. The Warden had that evil smile about him, he always smiled when there was a new addition to his kingdom, it made him feel important.  
The Warden ordered the prisoner to stop when they arrived at cell number 324. The Warden opened the cell and then turned to face the prisoner. "Welcome to cell 324 prisoner 8175." The Warden said, pushing the prisoner into the crampt confines of cell 324. "Have a Happy Christmas." The Warden sneered before slamming the cell door shut. The Warden laughed at this joke all the way down the hall. Sirius waited for a few moments, sneezed, and then began to speak to the new prisoner.  
"Hey buddy, you hear me?"  
"Yeah." The prisoner grunted.  
"You just come from the world?" Sirius inquired.  
"What's it matter to you?" the inmate replied.  
"I'm homesick." Sirius said shortly.  
The inmate hid a small chuckle then said, "Good for you."  
"I'm Black, Sirius Black." Sirius said, ignoring this last comment.  
There was a small pause as the man in the neighboring cell registered the man's name, then replied simply, "Gregory McBride."  
"So," McBride began, "You're Sirius Black?"  
"Yeah, that's right McBride."  
In that short conversation, Sirius Black had found himself a new prison buddy.  
  
It was now the first sunday of McBride's imprisonment and was surprised to learn that Azkaban had a social hour for its prisoners. It was on this Sunday that Sirius had gotten his first good look at Gregory. He was rather young, maybe twenty-five and had a large mustache and a large nose. He had light blue eyes and a rounded face. He spoke with an Irish accent and seemed to have automatically taken a liking to Sirius Black.  
"So," Sirius began when they had entered the Court Yard, "how much has the magical community changed this past decade?"  
"Not much," said McBride, "Cornelius Fudge being made Minister of Magic is about the biggest thing to 'ave happened."  
"Fudge is Minister of Magic?" Sirius said puzzled, "I would have thought that Bartemus Crouch had that position in the palm of his hand."  
"Times change Sirius," McBride began, "Crouch lost popular support when he handled his son so brutally."  
"Yeah I saw Crouch's son brought in back in '81." Sirius said smartly.  
"I've heard a lot about you Sirius," Said McBride, changing the subject, "Your name's a legend in the Underworld."  
"I'm so honored." Sirius said with sarcasam.  
McBride seemed to have caught this because he raised his eyebrows.  
"I'm not what you think," Sirius added, seeing the expression on McBride's face, "I am innocent, I did not commit those murders."  
"Yeah, whatever." McBride said with a chuckle, "I get the joke."  
  
"It's not a joke," Sirius said sharply, "I am not the guilty one, it was Peter Pettigrew."  
McBride smiled and then that smile turned into laughter. "Yeah, sure Sirius, whatever you say." McBride said, finally getting a hold of himself.  
"No one believes me." Sirius muttered.  
The smile faded from McBride's face, replaced with a frown.  
"You actually believe you're innocent," McBride said slowly, "You're not being funny."  
"Of course I'm not," Snapped Sirius, "I've told a lot of people that I am innocent and the only ones who seem to believe me are the Death Eaters."  
There was an ackward silence, broken after about ten seconds when McBride finally said, "It's like my mother always said: The truth will set you free."  
"Yeah," Sirius began, "The truth will set ME free." He laughed and then abruptly changed the subject of conversation. 


	12. The Animagus of Azkaban

CHAPTER TWELVE  
THE ANIMAGUS OF AZKABAN PRISON  
  
Sirius Black clutched the smuggled Daily Prophet tightly in his hands. It was January, 1993, and he was looking for confirmation of the rumor that something was very wrong at Hogwarts. As usual, nothing could be found in the paper about the story of a monster loose inside the school. He scowled at the paper and threw it to the ground of the court yard. He looked at his friend Gregory McBride with a look of disgust upon his face.  
"Nothing," Sirius growled, "nothing! It appears the Ministry is covering the attacks up, if indeed they have occurred."  
He stamped the paper with his foot a good few times then closed his eyes with pain. Stomach cramps again. He got over the pain and said, "Some times I wonder if Voldemort was indeed defeated."  
McBride flinched at the sound of the Dark Lord's name.  
"Come off it," Sirius chuckled, "it's better to say his name."  
Whatever." Gregory replied.  
The lack of news from the outside had given Sirius a real hard time. He did not like being cooped up in this godforsaken prison and he couldn't help but wonder why no one had come forward to say that he, Sirius Black, may be innocent. Why do I continue to see light at the end of the tunnel, Sirius asked himself. I've been in here for just under twelve years and if no one had come forward with evidence to support my story in '81, then no one would come forward now. He shrugged thoughts of proving him innocent aside and turned back to the matter at hand.  
"Well," Sirius sighed, "I wonder if Harry's alive, what with these attacks on students."  
"Sirius, if Harry was indeed dead, the Daily Prophet would make it front page news, wouldn't they." Gregory said smartly.  
"Not likely, mate," began Sirius, looking grim, "Harry defeated Voldemort and no one would want to print that he's dead. I just wish I could get a hold of Remus Lupin."  
"Who's Remus Lupin?"  
"He was a friend of mine before I was sent to this hell hole." Sirius answered.  
  
That night, Sirius did something that he hadn't done in almost twelve years. He was too emotional that night, because he was too concerned for the safety of his Godson. The Dementors, seeing this as probably their last chance to feed off of Black's emotions, converged at his cell. Sirius became cold and his eyes started to roll back into his head.  
"No." he hissed.  
There was nothing that he saw that could be done about it. He had no wand so he couldn't fight them off. And even if he did have a wand, he was weak and they were too many. He tried to close his mind off but to no avail. So, as a last resort, he decided to try and become a Dog. After all, he was an animagus. He began to concentrate, but screaming began to overtake his mind. Voices could be heard in his head, his own voice,  
"No...JAMES...LILY...PETTIGREW, YOU BASTARD, I'LL KILL YOU!"  
No, he thought, think about the dog, concentrate on the dog. The screaming began to fade. Yes, that's it, think of the dog. He now had the dog pictured in his mind. He smiled and thought, Padfoot. A few moments later the man known as Sirius Black was no longer sitting in cell 323, but a large, black dog, by the name of Padfoot, was.  
Sirius saw in black and white now, and he could see the Dementors, at least forty, standing beside his cell. He thought he could sense feelings of triumphs emitting from cloaked monsters. Slowly, they began to move away, and Sirius Black was left alone. A few minutes later, seeing that the coast was now clear, the dog transformed back into a man. Sirius Black was now able to transform into animal form again.  
Padfoot, my old friend, Sirius thought with a smile on his face, you saved my ass again. Just for Karma's sake, Sirius tried to transform again, and did it successfully. Upon becoming a man again Sirius realized that he had achieved a major victory in his continuing battle with Azkaban Prison. I know how to fight them, he thought, and there is nothing they can do to stop me. Luckily, the Dementors did not have eyes, they relied of the feelings and emotions of humans to guide them. So, as long as he kept his secret from everybody, he could change into a dog when the power of the Azkaban Guards became too much.  
Sirius was in a better mood when he went to sleep that night, knowing full well that his changing into an animagus for the first time in over twelve years had probably been a minor victory, but a victory that could prove to be decisive in the end. Whatever decisive victory it would be, Sirius did not know. He only knew of what was lain out in front of him. He only knew of one thing now, one constant, and that was Azkaban. He had no idea that in seven months time he would be using Padfoot to do attempt to do something that no other prisoner in Azkaban had succeeded in doing.  
Once again Sirius was back at Hogwarts with his best friends. They were in the Gryffindor Common Room. Sirius, James, and Peter were confronting Remus about the revelation that they had just uncovered about Lupin.  
"Remus," James said, "we know what you are and there is no hiding it from up this time."  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Remus said shakily, "Really James I need to finish this essay."  
"Oh come off it," Sirius growled, "We know that you're a werewolf and if you're concerned about us hating you then stop worrying, we have no intention of stripping away our friendship toward you."  
"I don't know what you mean," Remus continued, now looking at James, "I don't know where you and Sirius came up with such a far-fetched tale and I don't care. I am not a werewolf or anything else. I leave the castle to visit my—  
"Sick old mum." Sirius finished for him.  
It was now Peter's turn to speak up, "Remus, I believe Sirius and James and I also have no intention of leaving you either, werewolf or not."  
Remus was obviously doing some quick thinking, he then spoke very slowly and very cautiously, "Well...I guess there's no point in hiding the fact I'm a werewolf anymore," he smiled and then said, "You swear you won't stop being my friend."  
"We swear," Said the other three together.  
"As a matter of fact," Sirius began, smiling broadly, "I may know a way that we can help you Remus."  
"How can you help me?"  
"Yeah, how?" asked James curiously.  
"We become animagi." Sirius said simply. 


	13. A New Prisoner from Hogwarts

CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
A Prisoner from Hogwarts  
  
It was nearly April when Sirius finally learned that the rumor about the attacks on the Muggle-Born's at Hogwarts was true. A week later, he learned that Harry Potter, his Godson, was indeed alive and well, and Sirius was allowed a sigh of relief.  
"Thank God," Sirius said to McBride when he heard the good news on that Easter Sunday, "he's still safe." McBride smiled slightly before replying, "That's good news."  
"Yes it is," Sirius said nodding, he had to try hard to keep from crying, "if James knew that anything had happened to Harry while I was still alive he'd probably kill me."  
He jumped into the air, celebrating this fine bit of news. He'd better vent these good feelings before he returned to his cell. Gregory stood by and was watching Sirius with an amused expression on his face. Finally, Sirius was able to calm down, but was unable to get rid of the broad smile that covered his face. But the smile faded a few moments later as Sirius's brain began to work.  
"What is it," asked McBride, "What's wrong?"  
"He wouldn't." Sirius finally said, but to no one in particular.  
"Who won't?" McBride asked, puzzled, "Who are you talking about?"  
"Please God, don't let him have the same thinking pattern as his father." Sirius whined, ignoring Gregory's questions.  
"Who?" McBride asked loudly.  
"Harry, that's who." Sirius said, a look of panic and concern upon his face, "If he does indeed have a lot of his father in him, Harry would want to find out what is causing these attacks and would try to stop them."  
Sirius sighed and turned away from McBride, Harry couldn't be that much like his father, could he? If he was like his father, Harry would begin to take too many risks and that's how James....NO, don't think like that.  
  
April turned into May and with the new month came news from Hogwarts: Hagrid, the long time game keeper at Hogwarts, had been arrested and was on his way to Azkaban. Apparently they thought him to be the man responsible for these attacks on the Muggle-Born's. Sirius also learned that he would be kept in the low security wing, and decided that they really didn't think Hagrid the culprit, they just were putting him there as a precaution and also to silence the cries for action that were coming from the school governors. Rumor had it, Dumbledore had been sacked as well.  
It didn't seem right to Sirius, Hagrid just wasn't capable of harming the students, it just wasn't in his character. And Hagrid was a member in the Order of the Phoenix, and a very vital member at that. He wouldn't attack a Muggle-born because he was one of the people during the War that had been DEFENDING the muggles and the Muggle-Born's. And why had they sacked Dumbledore? What was he doing wrong? Surely they wouldn't sack the most powerful wizard in the world when evil events were taking place inside the very school that he oversaw.  
He knew that Hagrid was innocent. They had the wrong man, because Hagrid, god bless his soul, wouldn't hurt a fly, even if it was trying to kill him. But, seeing that he was in Azkaban, Sirius couldn't do any research to prove his point. I hate this place, Sirius said to himself, it's boring and it's cut off from the rest of the world.  
That night, with all these thoughts and ideas running through his head, the power of the Dementors became too much for him again. So, as he had done before, he transformed into Padfoot in the hopes of keeping his mind safe. It worked and the Dementors again thought that Sirius Black was finally beginning to lose his mind. And, once again, they were DEAD wrong.  
  
Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus had been in the library all week doing research on animagi. Each night they had returned to their dormitory with a new book to study and with each book they poured over, their knowledge on the subject began to gradually develop into an expertise.  
"Well," Remus began, a hint of sleepiness in his voice, "this seems to be very, very complicated magic. Are you guys sure you can pull it off? I mean, if something goes wrong--  
"Nothing's going to go wrong," James interrupted, "don't you realize that, if we didn't think that we could pull it off, we wouldn't be wasting our weekend by reading books?"  
"Yeah, Remus," Sirius began with a smile on his face, "we wouldn't be reading up on animagi if we didn't care."  
"Can you explain something to me?" Peter asked, his brow furrowed, "How can we help Remus with his--er--condition by becoming animagi?"  
"Well," James began, "A werewolf is only a danger to humans and he can't hurt other animals by biting them. So as long as we're animals, we will be safe. And hopefully, keep the werewolf from mentally taking control of him."  
"Yeah," Sirius began, "By becoming animagi we may be able to keep Remus with us when he's a werewolf."  
"MAY is the key word," Remus said, "if it doesn't work, well, I'm screwed."  
"It WILL work," James said seriously, "It has to work."  
"And it will." Remus replied, trying to sound positive.  
"Yeah, we'll see." breathed Sirius.  
"This was your idea, Sirius," James began, raising his voice in a playful way, "If it doesn't work we'll blame it on you. And I'll--I'll-- I'll hex you."  
"Jesus, James, keep off the caffeine," Sirius sneered, "You're stuttering is killing me."  
They laughed loudly with this new joke from Sirius. The four of them didn't realize it at the time, but that night, their fates were sealed. 


	14. Sirius Versus the Warden

CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
Sirius versus the Warden  
  
It was now mid-June, Hagrid had been released from Azkaban when the attacks at Hogwarts had finally ceased and the culprit, discovered. Sirius was not surprised when word reached him that it had been his Godson, Harry, that had saved the day by killing off the creature that had been doing the attacks and also had destroyed its master. He had boasted about it, and had done so with a sense of pride. He told the story of Harry Potter, defeating the evil at Hogwarts, to all of those who were sane enough to understand what he was saying.  
"I knew Harry would figure it out and put a stop to it," Sirius had laughed, "He had to because he was the son of James Potter."  
"Yeah, that must be it." McBride muttered, he was trying hard not to smile at the way Sirius was acting. Sirius spent the rest Social Hour in telling the prisoner of Harry's exploits at Hogwarts. A lot had scowled at him, how dare he talk about Harry Potter, the boy who had defeated the Dark Lord. But most had listened to Sirius with curiosity, not towards Harry, but toward Harry, but toward Sirius. He seemed so--normal, they had thought. Why hasn't he been affected by the Dementors, even though he is the most guarded prisoner in Azkaban? It seemed that Sirius was in the prison physically, but not here mentally.  
Towards the end of social hour, Sirius had to cut his story short when the Warden stepped into the court yard, and was closely followed by a man that Sirius thought must have been an Auror. He looked around at the prisoners before saying, "Now, I have heard rumors of a rebellion in the works. A rebellion that hopes to see me killed and then hopes to escape from the prison. "  
Sirius, who had stopped telling the story, was listening to the Warden's every word. He had a strong suspicion that the Warden was making this story up as he went along. The Warden paused to enjoy the stunned silence and then plowed on, "The leader of this-uh-rebellion is known to me." A pause an then, "Will the prisoner named Gregory McBride step forward, please?"  
Sirius looked quickly at the man who was standing behind him. He could tell from the look of confusion on Gregory's face that this was news to him. Sirius was not going to stand for this nonsense again. He had to stand up to the Warden. Sirius took a step forward and began to stare the Warden down, a look of hatred and disgust on his face.  
"If you don't mind my asking," Sirius began coolly,"but who is your informant?"  
"Black," the Warden began, "SHUT UP!"  
"No," Sirius said defiantly and taking another step forward, "I won't."  
The Warden blinked, took out his wand, sighed, and said, "Crucio."  
A few seconds later, Sirius was shrieking with pain upon the ground.  
"I will not tolerate that kind of disobedience, Black." The Warden snarled, his wand still at the ready.  
"Now," the Warden said in business-like tone, "McBride, please step forward."  
Sirius saw that McBride was about to do as he was ordered. He stood up and yelled, "No! Don't do it Gregory!"  
"Black, if you don't want solitary confinement for the rest of your miserable life, shut up." The Warden finished coolly.  
"Give it to me then." Sirius snarled.  
The Warden made ready to curse Black again.  
"Go ahead," Sirius snapped,"Curse me you coward. If you were a real man, you'd let me defend myself."  
Something flashed in the Warden's eyes, "A duel then?" the Warden said, a small smile beginning to appear on his face.  
"Yeah," Black snarled, "A duel."  
"Okay, here's the deal," the Warden began casually, "If you win, I will not have the Dementors kiss McBride, but you'll have to receive Solitary Confinement just in case word of this gets out. But, If I win, He will be kissed before the day is out."  
"Fine," Black said coldly,"let's do this."  
"Right," the Warden began, "Hawthorne?"  
The auror that was standing behind the Warden came forward.  
"Yes, sir?" Hawthorne asked.  
"Give Black your wand."  
The Auror just simply threw the wand up for Sirius to catch. When he had it in his hand, Sirius had almost immediately uttered the duel's first curse, but remembered about the rules of formal dueling and bowed.  
The Warden also bowed, and upon standing up straight, had their wands in the ready position.  
"Crucio." the Warden bellowed.  
"Protego." Sirius answered.  
And the cruciatus curse was repelled and flung back at the Warden. The Warden ducked just in time. The prisoners that could contemplate what was going on began to cheer as the duel began.  
"Wingardium Leviosa." Sirius said, pointing his wand at the Warden.  
The Warden was lifted up off the ground and, with the flick of Sirius's wand, was flung into the hard, stone wall. With another flick of his wrist, Sirius lifted the charm and the Warden fell to the ground with a BANG.  
The Warden's nose was broken, and upon seeing this, Sirius began to laugh at his unfortunate opponent. The Warden gave a loud yell and charged Sirius. They began to at a very fast pace, as fast as the spells could come out of their mouths. Their wands became blurs as the duel continued.  
  
Finally, Sirius shot a very powerful spell that knocked the Warden off his feet, signaling that Sirius had won. The prisoners gave a loud shout of joy as the Warden went down in defeat. The Warden quickly jumped to his feet and was about ready to continue the duel when he gave a forced laugh.  
"Well," the Warden said, trying and failing at being a good sport, "It appears you have beaten me Mr. Black. Please step down to Solitary Confinement, and yes, Mr. McBride will not be receiving the Dementor's Kiss."  
Sirius handed Hawthorne back his wand and made his way for the corridor when he heard the Warden call after him, "Like I said, Mr. McBride will not be receiving the Dementor's Kiss."  
The Warden aimed his wand directly at McBride's heart and shouted, "Avada Kedavra." A jet of green light came out of the Warden's wand and hit McBride in the chest. McBride gave a small gasp of surprise before falling, spread eagled, on the floor. He was dead before hitting the ground.  
Sirius, upon seeing this, gave a loud cry of anger and charged the Warden.  
"Stupefy." the Warden yelled, now pointing his wand at Sirius. The spell hit Sirius. He fell onto his stomach, out cold. The Warden smiled, lowered his wand, and strolled over to Black's unconscious body. He kicked Black, the force of the kick rolled Sirius onto his back.  
"Well, I didn't say anything about not giving him any punishment." The Warden sneered, "I sure hope you can forgive me for overlooking that-- er--minor detail."  
The Warden turned to Hawthorne and said, "Drag this pile of filth to Solitary Confinement."  
The Warden took one last look at Sirius and then walked away, smiling wickedly. 


	15. The Truth Will Set You Free

CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
The Truth will Set You Free

(This chapter includes a word-for-word copy of a Daily Prophet clipping that can be found in Harry Potter in the Prisoner of Azkaban. Please don't sue.)

On the night of Gregory's death at the hands of the Warden, when Sirius had finally been revived after being hit with the Knock Out Spell, Sirius Black finally broke down. He cried the entire night, he could not think, he could hardly breathe, all he could really do was cry. He did not know why he was crying so hard, maybe it was the fact that McBride had been the only one who ever believed that he was actually innocent. He didn't know how to express his emotions in any other way at the moment, he couldn't even laugh. The Dementors had just simply sat back and listened to the weeping of Sirius Black, amusement beginning to course through their "bodies." Sirius Black had been through more than any man should have to. He had seen the corpse of his best friend, James Potter, staring up at him with lifeless eyes. That was bad enough. The day after James and Lily had died he lost everything when the Muggles claimed that it was Sirius Black, not Peter Pettigrew, who had blown the street apart.  
During his time here he had seen the only people that he could call friends get killed off one by one. Now, when happiness had crept back into his heart with the acquisition of a new friend, Sirius had had that happiness leak out of his already cracked heart with the death of that very same friend. He could no longer call himself a human being. Humans aren't suppose to experience so much pain, he thought. Humans are generally happy beings that are known as the dominant species of the planet. He continued to weep on into the morning, before finally stopping because of his lack of sleep. After eating the usual meager breakfast, Sirius Black was able to drift off into a troubled sleep.  
  
JULY 28, 1993  
  
Sirius Black was still in solitary confinement when the Warden came down to tell him that the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, would be arriving to inspect the entire prison later on in the day. After a brief exchange of some very powerful swear words, the Warden left Sirius Black to his dark musings. It was around noon when Fudge arrived in Azkaban, clutching the latest edition of the Daily Prophet in his right hand. All through the afternoon the Warden and Cornelius Fudge walked through the halls of Azkaban Prison, with Fudge shooting the occasional question of things concerning welfare, food, prison cells, and also about the nasty rumors that had been circulating around the Ministry of Magic for the past ten years.  
"There is no truth to these nasty lies." The Warden had told Fudge when asked about a rumor in which the prisoners were force to dig up, bury, and burn the dead prisoners who had been killed in that horrible epidemic a few years back.  
Sirius had been sitting in his cell, thinking strongly of suicide, when he heard the approaching sounds of voices.  
"You see Minister, I had no choice but to kill him, he was about to kill one of my Aurors."  
"So you did not kill McBride in cold blood."  
"No, sir. And speaking of McBride, our last prisoner on the tour is kept down here in solitary confinement."  
"Who is he?"  
"Sirius Black, Minister. He has been in confinement for attacking me after I was forced to kill McBride."  
"Oh, did he?"  
"Yes, sir."  
Finally the two men reached his cell and Sirius came face to face with Cornelius Fudge for the first time in twelve years.  
"Well hello, Sirius." The Minister said, frowning back at him.  
"Hello Cornelius." Sirius answered back in a bored tone of voice.  
Fudge seemed quite surprised to see Sirius answer him, for when he spoke again, it was in an awkward sort of way.  
"So, I s-see that you've held up p-pretty well here."  
"I don't know about that," Sirius began, "I'm just a little too normal aren't I?"  
"I s-s-suppose." Answered Fudge, surprised that Sirius still had his sanity.  
Sirius looked down and saw the latest edition of the Daily Prophet clutched in Fudge's hand. He looked back up at Fudge's face and said, "Have you finished with the Daily Prophet, Minister?"  
"Yes," Fudge began, now beginning to get used to Sirius, "Why?"  
"Oh, I just miss doing the crossword puzzle. If you're done with it, may I please have it."  
"Why, certainly," Fudge answered, somewhat surprised.  
Fudge began attempting to put the paper through the bars when the Warden suddenly piped up, "Excuse me minister, why don't you have me hand it to him?"  
"Why?" Fudge asked.  
"Just in case he tries something stupid."  
"Oh," Fudge began, "very well."  
Fudge handed the Warden the paper, who then handed it to Sirius. Sirius took it gratefully and began flipping to where the crossword puzzle was located.  
"It's on page 3-E now Sirius." the minister said, slightly smiling.  
"Thank You, Fudge."  
"Well," the Minister began, turning to the Warden, "I'd best be off, I having dinner with Albus Dumbledore. We'll you see me to the Gate?"  
"Certainly Minister."  
With one last glance at Sirius, Fudge followed the Warden back down the corridor. Sirius was continuing to flip through the pages of the Daily Prophet, still looking for page 3-E, when a picture of a family smiling and waving at him, caught his attention. With one quick glance at the family, he scanned down to where an article read:  
  
Ministry of Magic Employee  
Scoops Grand Prize  
  
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Galleon Draw. A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank." The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.  
  
He smiled at the family in the picture. Yes, he thought, you deserve it. He held the picture up closer to the candle that hung over his cell in the hopes of getting a better look at the family. He stood up, gave the picture one final good look. But then his smile faded slightly, and then faded away and was replaced with a look of fear and horror. There was something funny about the rat that was on the shoulder of one of the Weasley children. He had seen it before.  
"Oh my God!" He breathed.  
That was not a rat, it was a Wizard. An animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew. Looking more closely at it he saw that the rat was missing a finger, that doesn't make sense, he wasn't missing a finger. But then it hit him: The only part of Pettigrew they found was his index finger. He had faked his own death, he was not dead.  
"Harry. Harry's in danger."  
He had to do something, he had to act. But how? Sirius was locked up in Azkaban and there was no possible way to get out of here. He couldn't just walk up to the Warden and tell him, "Peter Pettigrew's still alive and is at Hogwarts, and is in position to kill Harry Potter when he first gets wind of news that the dark side is rising again."  
No, he had to escape, but how? And then it hit him. One night, some time soon, he would wait until they open his cell to bring him dinner and then give them the slip by turning into a dog. They are blind, they won't be able to tell the difference. They will be confused and won't know what's going on for at least a few minutes.  
Would that give him time to escape? He didn't fall asleep until after midnight, the Dementors guarding his cell finally heard him drift off to sleep and began to go to work, trying to deprive him of good dreams. They became confused when they began to hear him mutter the same words over and over again:  
"He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts. He can be found at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts." When Sirius Black awoke the next morning he automatically remembered something that Gregory McBride had told him nearly two years ago: "The truth will set you free."


	16. Escape from Azkaban

CHAPTER SIXTEEN  
Escape from Azkaban  
  
(Well this is the chapter that just about raps up Sirius's stay in Azkaban. It's not the last chapter, but it is the climatic chapter)  
  
JULY 30, 1993 4:30 P.M.  
  
The Dementors had been speaking to the Warden about their concerns toward Sirius Black on and off throughout the day. His emotions had all but disappeared, that much was clear, but there was something inside Sirius Black that the Dementors could not identify. It was a form of emotion that did not have feeling, it was just there, raging like a wildfire inside of his alarmingly sane mind. Yet the Warden did not worry, he was not afraid of anyone in the entire prison, so he did not seem to heed the warnings of the fearful Dementors, who had not feared anyone until now.  
Sirius Black had not made a sound or movement all day. He just stared out into space, past the bars, past the Dementors, and past the walls, he stared past the fortress and saw freedom. But how to escape, that was a question that hadn't been answered by anyone who had ever been imprisoned here. Even if you got through the Dementors, out of the fortress, and into the ocean, it was a fifteen mile swim to the mainland. Sirius heard the distant sound of thunder. As the minutes went by it became apparent that the storm was heading toward Azkaban. Why tonight, he asked. Why send a storm to this godforsaken island on the very night he had planned to escape.  
  
9:30 P.M.  
  
The storm had turned out to be a very bad one and at 9:30 P.M., fifteen minutes away from the moment of truth, the storm appeared to be growing stronger. What luck, he thought. It was now 9:40, five minutes to go, and the storm outside was still raging. At 9:44, Sirius concentrated on the picture of a dog in his head, a few seconds later he had transformed successfully into Padfoot.  
At 9:45 he heard them. They were moving down the hall, his dinner clutched in one of the Dementor's scabby hands. Here we go, he thought. If I'm caught I will receive the Kiss. The Dementor was at the entrance to his cell. With a wave of its free hand, the cell door magically opened with a loud CLANG.  
This was it, it was either now or never. Without any hesitation, Sirius Black slipped past the Dementors and began to sprint down the long corridor.  
"Doggy!" shrieked one of the insane prisoners, "Nice Doggy."  
Sirius continued to run, he had a chance, the best chance that an attempted Escapee had ever had to do the impossible. He, as the dog, sprinted past the hallway that led down to the Warden's office and turned left at the next fork in the road. He followed this corridor all the way down until it veered right, and three it was, at the very end of the tunnel was the open exit. He could see the ocean, dark and active, with large waves being created by the raging thunderstorm.  
He was running down the corridor and toward the exit, but about halfway, the alarm began to sound throughout the prison. The barred gate that remained open all of the time began to lower. He wasn't fast enough to make it before it closed on him. He reached the gate, which was now only two feet from the stone floor, and tried to slip under it. But it closed to quickly and he was locked in. Shit, he thought, and he began to look away for some other exit that he did not know about. He began to growl, he had failed Harry, and now Pettigrew would be free to act if he heard of Voldemort's return to power.  
He hung his head low. He could hear the sound of fastly approaching foot steps. He looked up and and stared at the barred gate before him, you'd have to be very thin to fit through those bars, he said to himself. Wait a minute, he was very thin. He trotted up to the gate and began to try to squeeze his way through the bars on the gate. He was a quarter of the way through; the footsteps were getting very loud. He was now halfway through; he could hear voices mingled in with the footsteps. He was three quarters of the way through; the voices had almost reached the corner. He made it through, unseen, and slipped off into the stormy night.  
The journey to the end of the island was difficult, he was very light, and the strongs winds coming off the storm were making it difficult for him to walk. Several times he was nearly lifted off of the ground. Twenty difficult minutes later, Sirius had reached the island's edge. He let out a gasp of surprise: The island did indeed end here, but the water of the Atlantic Ocean was a hundred feet below him. Well, he thought, I didn't come all this way to just give up on account of a cliff. He took a few steps back and, after a few moments of deliberation, took off for the cliff at a run. He was at the edge, and, pushing off the end of the land with his hind legs, began his hundred foot swan dive into the choppy sea below. As he free-falled, he did several flips, before landing in the icy cold Atlantic.  
He hit the water and a stab of sharp pain coursed through his entire body. He sank about twenty feet before beginning his swim back to the surface, oriented himself, and began the fifteen mile swim to shore. About a mile into his swim, he realized that swimming to shore as a dog would take forever and a day. After turning back into Sirius Black, he resumed his swim through the angry ocean.  
Wave after wave slammed into Sirius as he swam eastward, and each time he was forced underwater by the power of the wave. He had to waste precious amounts of energy to swim back to the surface and continue landwards. Come on, he told his body about thirteen miles from freedom, just a little longer.  
He was ten miles from shore now, and his legs and arms were beginning to lock up from exaustion. His muscles were aching, but if he rested for even a brief second, a wave would slam into him and all that regained energy would be wasted again in swimming back to the surface. He had to continue, he couldn't stop, and he wouldn't stop.  
He treked onward and was now about five miles from shore. It was becoming more and more difficult to command his muscles to move his arms and legs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large wave collasped on top of him and pulled him under. He tried to fight it, but his arms and legs had given up. No, he thought, don't do this to me. He tried to continue, but it was in vain, he could not move his arms or legs. I'm sorry Harry, he thought sadly, but I failed to protect you. He thought of James and Lily. I am his Godfather, I swore to protect him. I SWORE TO PROTECT HIM FROM DANGER! He began to work his muscles again, this time with a new energy. His legs and arms began to obey some of his commands.  
Come on you worthless pieces of shit, WORK! Miracuously, they obeyed, not reluctantly, but began to work as if they belonged to champion swimmer. He was almost out of breath, and almost to the surface. I need...AIR! He had made it back to the ocean surface and breathed heavily. He began to swim again, this time with a new determination to reach the mainland. He had to get to Harry. Pettigrew is at Hogwarts.  
He was now only three hundred yards from shore. Come on, we can do this. Two hundred yards from shore. ALMOST there! He was fifty yards out, he could now touch the bottom. He was now wading to shore. Twenty yards from shore, he now began to sprint to shore. Five yards, four, three, two ONE!  
He was at the water's edge and here he stopped, staring at the dark objects that lay in front of him upon the main land, staring at thme with disbelief. It noticed for the first time that it was raining Cats and Dogs. He knelt down in the surf, raised his head up to look at the heavens that were opening up on him, and stretched out his hands toward God. HE WAS FREE!!! It was a miracle. He began to catch rain drops in his mouth, drinking the water as if he had never tasted a liquid before. He was free, and for a long while, he had forgotten why he had escaped, he had forgotten about Harry, James, and Lily. And he had forgotten about Peter Pettigrew. All he could think about, at least for that moment, was freedom. Because, for the first time in twelve years, he was free to walk where he wanted, sleep where he wanted, and eat and drink when he wanted.  
This was freedom, and he WAS free. 


	17. Meanwhile, Back in Azkaban

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN  
Meanwhile, back in Azkaban  
  
It was just after mid-night when Cornelius Fudge was roused in his sleep by his Senior undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge. She had told him that something was wrong at Azkaban, and the Warden did not say what the problem was. So, greatly annoyed, Fudge got up and dressed, before traveling by Floo Powder to the prison. Upon arriving, he was greeted by several Azkaban Aurors and was led to the Warden's office.  
Inside the office, Fudge could tell that the Warden had pulled a lot of his hair loose from some unknown frustration. The Warden was angry, very angry. Fudge looked from the Aurors in the room to the Warden himself, waiting for someone to tell him the news that the Azkaban staff was so uptight about.  
"Minister," the Warden began, speaking very painfully, "We've had a problem."  
"What sort of problem?" Fudge inquired.  
"A breakout, a prisoner has escaped."  
"Who," gasped, panic now in his voice, "Who was it?"  
"The one that was the least likely to breakout, Minister." The Warden replied, still trying hard not to say the prisoner's name.  
"And who is that?" Fudge snarled angrily.  
"It was—  
"Sirius Black." One of the Aurors finished for the Warden, "It was Sirius Black."  
"NO!" Fudge said breathless, "Impossible."  
"Well it's happened," the Warden said, "And we've spent the past several hours combing the prison for him and we've not found a single clue."  
Fudge was in shock, several times he opened his mouth to speak, and several times he was at a loss for words. Finally, he said, "How did he break out? How did he get past the Dementors?"  
"We don't know," the Warden said, standing up from his chair, "He just slipped past the Dementors some how when they opened his cell to hand him dinner."  
"How in the hell—  
But before the Minister could finish his sentence, one of the Aurors began yelling at the Warden,  
"THE DEMENTORS TRIED TO TELL YOU THAT HE WAS DANGEROUSLY SANE!!!" The Auror bellowed, "THEY TOLD YOU THAT THEY WERE AFRAID OF SIRIUS BLACK, BECAUSE HE DID NOT SEEMED AFFECTED LIKE THE OTHER PRISONERS WERE!!!"  
"Please, come down good man," Fudge said, waving a hand at the angry Auror, "Let us discuss this like civilized men, shall we?"  
"You said, good sir, that Black had made the Dementors fearful?"  
"That's exactly what I'm saying Minister." Snarled the Auror, "We had warning, before tonight, that Sirius Black was strong enough to make an escape."  
Fudge looked at the Warden, and could tell that he was in no condition to discuss the events of the past few hours.  
"Was there any who saw Black escape," Fudge began, talking to the angry Auror, "Is there anyone that can say that they saw Sirius Black?"  
"No," the Auror said, beginning to calm down, "They were too mad to notice anything. The ones that were Sane were too busy eating."  
"Can we go down to the escapee's cell?"  
"Yes," the Auror said, now looking important, "follow me."  
  
A few minutes later, the Minister and the angry auror arrived outside of the cell that was formally occupied by Sirius Black.  
"We do know that he was still in his cell when the Dementors came with his dinner. After that, we never saw him again." The Auror said, still fuming.  
"When did the alarm sound?" asked Fudge.  
"About five minutes after the Dementors opened the cell. The gates to the prison closed automatically once the alarm did sound. Sirius must have already been out of the castle when the alarm did finally go off."  
"Why didn't the Dementors sense that Sirius wasn't in his cell?" Fudge inquired.  
"I don't know minister," The Auror began, "I doubt that THEY even know. They were a little bit confused when they came and told us that there was an escape in progress."  
"I see." The Minister said simply.  
"Still," the Auror began, "he did get out of the castle, but that is a long swim, sir. We are fifteen miles from shore, and assuming Black even survived the fall from the cliff, he could still be swimming. In fact, he's probably dead."  
"Yes, that is possible," Said Fudge, "But we have to be cautious. If he did indeed survive the fall, we are going to have to warn people. I will have the Daily Prophet print that he's escaped and, once that is done, I'll tell the Muggle Prime Minister as well. He killed twelve muggles twelve years ago, he's a danger to everyone, not just the Wizarding world.  
"That's good," the Auror said, "Oh, Minister," the Auror quickly added, "there's one other thing that you may want to know. For the past two days, the Dementors have been reporting some strange behavior while he was asleep."  
"What sort of behavior."  
"He just kept on saying the exact same thing, over and over again in his sleep, 'He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts.'"  
"Who's at—  
But Fudge broke off as he suddenly realized something. He knew who was at Hogwarts. There was only one person alive that Sirius Black could mean, Harry Potter.  
"He's after Harry Potter. If he is indeed as sane as you say he is, that's what Sirius Black meant. He wants Harry Potter dead.  
"My God." Gasped the Auror.  
"I have to call on some people."  
"I'll walk you out Minister."  
"I want this to be a massive man hunt, he has got to be found before the new year begins at Hogwarts. I need at least a hundred Dementors to be ready to leave for Hogwarts, they will be released to the castle if Black is not found by August 31."  
"Very well, sir." The Auror said, "Should I tell the Warden?"  
"No. You're the Warden now. You appear to be far more competent."  
"Thank you, minister," smiled the Auror.  
At that moment, Sirius Black was already traveling, moving north, and beginning his long journey to Hogwarts, where he hoped to find Peter Pettigrew and then kill him.


End file.
